


Of bratty demons and mushroom heads

by YumeKoe



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-07
Updated: 2011-03-24
Packaged: 2017-10-13 02:58:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 63
Words: 281,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/132064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YumeKoe/pseuds/YumeKoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The college years and romance of Kirihara Akaya and Hiyoshi Wakashi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. CHAPTER 1

Mukahi Gakuto was a fountain of information, was Kirihara Akaya's thought as he stomped angrily down the hall of the college dorm. Where was he going? To Hiyoshi Wakashi's room. Somehow, Akaya had managed to convince the redhead to tell him where the mushroom-headed bastard's room was.

Kirihara Akaya was a College Freshman living on campus. His reason for coming to college had been simple; to keep his parents happy and paying for stuff until he got accepted into the professional tennis circuit. No one had told him that stupid stick up your ass Hyotei would be there.

Throughout high school, the tennis ace demon had been notorious for being a playboy that would sleep with just about anyone he took interest in. He dated people until he got tired of them, then he'd dump them and move onto the next person. During that time, he'd met one of his favorite people and sex buddies, the flexible spunky red-head, Mukahi Gakuto. Unfortunately, knowing him also meant knowing the most uptight boring person ever.

Akaya was now on his way to said boring person's room to win a bet. He'd been given the challenge of trying to get the stick out of his ass, which sounded like fun. Not to mention, Kirihara Akaya never backed down from a challenge. He owed the bastard anyway, for calling him a brat again. He was sick of being called a brat, damn it! It was about time he gave the damn mushroom-head a piece of his mind in his own way.

He knocked on the door and waited not-so-patiently for the other man to open it.

College had only just started a few weeks ago and already Hiyoshi's parents were calling him home for family duty. After many long, tense discussions and debates, Hiyoshi had finally been able to convince his parents to let him leave home for college. After middle school, he had given up his love of tennis to concentrate solely on his responsibility to someday inherit his family's Kobujutsu dojo. It was the future he had chosen for himself, but being here would be a nice breather away from home before he was stuck there forever.

Hiyoshi was in the middle of packing when he heard the bothersome knocking at his door. It couldn't be anyone important since he knew his best friend, Ohtori Choutarou, was usually in class at this time and his other friend, Mukahi Gakuto, had a very specific annoying knock. Deciding to ignore it, he went back to packing while cursing under his breath for having to go home at all.

If there was one thing in the world Akaya hated more than anything, it was being ignored. Most people had learned that long ago, but apparently Hiyoshi had missed the memo, "Oi Mushrooms-for-brains, open up," so much for making this a somewhat nice and diplomatic visit.

What the hell? Why was Kirihara at his door? And why the fuck was he still comparing him to god-awful mushrooms? If there was one complaint Hiyoshi had about college, it was the thing at his door. "What the hell do you want, brat?" He called back in an irritated tone of voice with no inclination to hear the answer.

"Gakuto sent me over to bring you something," Okay, so maybe honesty wasn't one of Akaya's strong points, he was working on it, really, "Let me in," jerk face he continued in his head. He growled quietly at being called a brat yet again, but didn't do anything that would make Hiyoshi suspicious of him.

What would Gakuto want to send him that he couldn't bring over himself? Better yet, Gakuto was going to pay for letting Kirihara know where his room was. Giving up the idea of being able to finish packing in peace, he made his way slowly towards the door. Opening it just a few inches, he inquired, "What is it?"

"He sent me over to help you with a stick problem," Akaya grinned devilishly and stuck his foot in the door so Hiyoshi couldn't slam it in his face. He pushed on the wooden barrier lightly, silently telling the other boy to open it more, "and I'm not a brat."

It took a moment for Hiyoshi to get it. "What the fuck? I don't want to deal with this right now." He pushed against the door to close it and realized Kirihara had braced it with his foot. Smirking, he pushed harder.

"Too bad--Hey! Stop that!" Akaya winced as the door closed more on his foot. He'd had enough of this 'nice-guy' stuff and slammed his whole body into the door to push it open.

Seeing what Kirihara was about to do, Hiyoshi quickly stepped away from the door as temperamental boy barreled his way in. Hiyoshi had to hold himself back from laughing outright as Kirihara lost his balance and landed face down on the floor.

Akaya let out a yelp and 'oomf' on impact, "Bastard," he mumbled and pushed himself up off the ground. At least he'd made it inside.

Hiyoshi smirked down at the brat in a condescending manner. "So?" He questioned, "Is there something you wanted now that you have barged your way uninvited into my room?" Figuring he could go back to his packing now, he turned around and did just that.

"Yeah," Akaya said smoothly, despite his little slip up a few seconds ago. He moved up close behind Hiyoshi and wrapped his arms around the other man's waist, effectively pinning his arms to his sides. "You're really tense. Why don't I help you relax a little?" He whispered against his ear and darted his tongue out to lick the rim of it.

Hiyoshi's whole body immediately froze, more than a little shocked at Kirihara's actions. He couldn't remember anyone being this close to him in a long time, outside of sparring, and wasn't sure how to react. When he felt wetness against his ear, his body reacted automatically. He whirled around and forcefully pushed Kirihara to the ground in an Aikido hold. His body firmly pinned Kirihara down at the waist; one arm held his shoulder down, while the other held his arms in front of his face.

Before Akaya even realized it, he was back on the floor and very confused. What the hell had just happened? He stared at Hiyoshi for a moment before realization set in, oh yeah, a martial artist. Flexible. Perfect. "You prefer to be on top, huh? I'm fine with that." He purred smoothly despite the still rather odd position they were in.

How had this happened? Hiyoshi reasoned he'd been under a lot of stress for the last few days and his brain was not functioning properly. His brain couldn't string together why Kirihara would do something like that, or what he was saying. 'On top?' What the hell was he talking about?

"Oh, speechless I see." Akaya smirked and, using Hiyoshi's confusion to his advantage flipped them over so he was lying on top of the other boy. He hovered above him and used one hand to pin his arms above his head. "You know, on second look, you're pretty hot," he purred huskily and pressed his lips against the brunettes.

Finally coming back to his senses, Hiyoshi just had a moment to think this was not a position he wanted to be in before Kirihara surprised him again. He was on his back now, with no clear idea of how or why Kirihara was getting away with it. He was about to fight back when… he felt a hot breath ghosting over his face. Was Kirihara serious? Then a pair of warm lips came down on his. How many times was he going to go into shock today? He was going to retaliate, really, but for some reason… he didn't. Maybe he could blame it on all the pressure he'd felt lately from his family, or maybe on his unrequited five fucking year crush on Choutarou, but in any case, he tentatively moved his lips against the others with obvious uncertainty.

The mushroom under him clearly was not experienced at all and Akaya couldn't help but smile into the kiss. He slowed his kiss, using subtle lip movements to guide the other boy and teach him. He didn't mind first timers, the gods knew how many girls he'd taken the virginity from in high school, but now he'd taken a boy's first kiss. First kiss with a man, yes, but never first first kiss. Still not confident enough to let go of Hiyoshi's wrists, he kept them in place for fear of retaliation. He was strong, but martial artists were dangerous.

Not wanting to admit how much he was enjoying this, Hiyoshi effectively shut down the part of his brain that was screaming at him 'What the hell are you doing!? He closed his eyes as he let himself relax into the hold, giving a slight shudder as Kirihara's lips moved over his confidently. He tried to move his arms from the uncomfortable position they were in above his head, but when he realized they were trapped in the other boy's firm grip, his conscience finally came back to life. He realized exactly what was happening, or better yet, what he was letting happen to him. His eyes opened wide and with a firm twist of his lower body and sweep of his legs, he unattached himself from Kirihara, at the same time knocking him off balance. Swiftly getting behind him, he bent over him, bracing Kirihara's arms behind his back with a strong grip.

For the second time today, Akaya was left wondering what the fuck had just happened. He tried to wriggle his arms free but it just ended up sending shooting pain down his arms. He couldn't deny that he liked it rough sometimes, but bottoming to an inexperienced guy who liked it rough did not sound like his idea of a good time. He gave up squirming and instead just rested his forehead on the floor, his knees aching from the hard floor. "Oi, lemme go, unless you plan on doing more while you're back there." To emphasize his point, he rolled his hips back against Hiyoshi's. He'd have to remember this position for later, it was kinky.

Feeling Kirihara move against regions he would… rather him not, Hiyoshi abruptly let go of him and backed away towards his futon. He was trying to come to terms with what just happened. He had just let the brat, his long time arch-nemesis, Kirihara Akaya, kiss him. Not only that, he had kissed him back and enjoyed it. What the fuck was he thinking? How could he let this happen!? He closed his eyes and tried to take inner calming breaths… before he started to laugh at himself and the absurdity of it all. The stress from family and school, Choutarou confusing him again... It all must be going to his head; he must be certifiably insane by now. How else could he have liked Kirihara, of all people, touching him?

Akaya cursed quietly as his arms were suddenly released and he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He ran a hand through his mess of hair and looked over at Hiyoshi. Gakuto had told him the guy was weird, but he had left out that he was bat shit crazy, too. He watched with a raised eyebrow as the other boy freaked out and stood there conveniently near the futon. He stood slowly walked over to wrap his arms around the mushroom's neck and placed a light kiss on his lips. No wonder the guy was so high strung. He'd never been kissed or laid, he'd have a stick up his ass too if he'd gone this long without getting any. "Just relax."

Kirihara was kissing him again. With eyes open, he watched unresponsive, trying to figure out the best way to deal with the situation. He wanted to be angry, but honestly, he wasn't. So he settled for stepping back and asking stonily, "Is there a reason why you're doing this, or are you just that bored?"

"Trying to help you get rid of some of this tension," Akaya murmured and buried a hand in the hair he'd always made fun of, running it through a couple times. It was really soft. "You're not bad looking. Why've you never been with anyone?"

Hiyoshi didn't have the energy or will to throw him off, but hell would freeze over before he even thought about reciprocating. With his arms left dangling at his side, Hiyoshi sighed as he resigned himself to having a living attachment for the moment. The hand in his hair felt good. It reminded him of when Choutarou would do that when he was really stressed. He chuckled slightly at Kirihara's words, very amused. "Well obviously I can't be that bad looking if I have random people coming into my room and throwing themselves at me. Maybe I just choose not to."

"You're missing out." Akaya leaned forward to lick at Hiyoshi's lips teasingly and smirked. "I can show you just how wonderful it is." He was definitely an expert on the subject and was willing to break the Hyotei alumni in. Hell, maybe he'd wind up with a new fuck buddy if he played his cards right.

Warning bells suddenly went off in Hiyoshi's head and he quickly extracted himself from the other boy's hold. "Che, I think you've had your fun, brat. Now get the hell out of my room." He knew that hadn't come out as forcefully as he would have liked it to. Why was this not pissing him off? If anything, the idea of being alone again didn't sound so appealing anymore. He shook his head at himself and glared at Kirihara. "I have things to do that don't include babysitting."

"You want help?" Akaya asked curiously, not at all put off by being told to leave. He knew to be patient, especially with people who were new to this kinda thing, "I've got nothing better to do," He glanced over at the bag and raised an eyebrow. "Where you going?"

Surprised by the unexpected offer, Hiyoshi couldn't help but be amused. There really wasn't that much to do, but wasn't he just thinking it would be nice to have some company? Even if it was Kirihara…"Sure," he finally conceded. "You can grab my gi out of the bottom drawer on your right next to the desk. I'm going home for a few days." He wasn't sure how long Kirihara would actually stick around, but he might as well make himself useful while he was here. He went to the sink and started to gather up his toothbrush and other necessities.

"K," Akaya chimed happily, fetching the gi out of the drawer. "Homesick already? The semester just started." He carried the gi over to the bag and set it down next to it. He would have packed it away, but he hadn't forgotten his senpai's orders from junior high; someone had to be present to supervise him whenever he packed anything. He usually just shoved whatever was in reach into the bag and forgot important things or didn't have room for them.

"Trust me," Hiyoshi practically snarled, "if I had my way, I would cancel the trip in a heart beat." Wasn't this supposed to be awkward? He had just been kissed, by a BOY, the boy who was Kirihara Akaya, the boy was currently helping him pack. "Go ahead and start putting everything that's on the bed into the bag next to you."

"Okay!" Akaya grinned and started doing as he was told. "Why would you cancel the trip?" He asked curiously as he messily put the stuff in the bag. He liked packing, even if he wasn't all that good at it.

Hiyoshi grimaced. "That's none of your business." He finished putting everything he needed into a little case and walked back over to where Kirihara was literally making a mess of his belongings. He wasn't a neat freak or anything, but his family had instilled many habits into him, one of them being tidiness. "Heh, you really are a brat. You can't even pack right," he quipped with a slight smirk on his face. It didn't actually make any difference to him if it was messy or not so he murmured a quiet 'thank you' under his breath as he stuffed what was left into the bag and zipped it up.

"I pack just fine! Look it all fit." Akaya pouted until he heard the little 'thank you' and slowly his features twisted into a giant grin. "So now that you're done packing, how about we pass some time together? I'll get all that tension out of you before you have to go home."

The pout was amusing, the smile for some reason made him want to smile back. Hiyoshi stopped to consider for a moment how to handle this. Should he just throw him out? Should he thank him for keeping him company, maybe punch him for coming on to him and then throw him out? "Sorry, but as I already told you," he stepped close again, pausing for a moment, but then only brushed past him to pick up his bag, "I choose not to. Better find someone else to play with."

Akaya felt his heart leap, just like it always did when someone got that close, he loved that feeling. It was one of the reasons he got put into situations like this as much as he could. He loved the thrill. "You can't say you didn't like it." He smirked and placed a hand on Hiyoshi's chest. His muscles were firm and defined, just the way Akaya liked them, but despite his somewhat loose tendencies in bed, he wasn't a pig. "If you ever change your mind, I'll be glad to show you the ropes."

Stifling a laugh at Kirihara's very forward manner, Hiyoshi grabbed the hand currently on his chest and all but dragged him to the door; opened it, and pushed Kirihara through it. "Until then, good bye." With that, he shut the door in Kirihara's face. Wait. Did he just say "until then"? He really needed to get his brain examined. Undoubtedly, he would come to regret all of this later, but right now, he had a bus to catch and much bigger problems to worry about.

"'Until then,' huh?" Akaya glanced back at the closed door as he walked down the hall and laughed. "Guess I'll just have to wait until then." He shoved his hands in his pockets and grinned. He'd done what he'd come here too, he'd made the mushroom relax. Too bad he didn't get to do more... Well, maybe later.


	2. Chapter 2

Choutarou had left only a few hours ago, having shown up at Hiyoshi's dorm room mere moments after his return from home. Since then, Hiyoshi hadn't managed to do anything productive. He knew he needed to get up, unpack, try to get some of his homework done, and maybe figure out what he was going to do for dinner; however, he felt drained and didn't want to move from his futon. The unavoidable conversation he'd had with his best friend kept running through his head like a VCR on fast forward.

After five years, he had finally come to terms with his feelings for his best friend and had promised he would get over his damn crush. Choutarou had been so sweet about it… and then gave him a parting kiss. What the hell?! That had not helped his personal situation at all. He knew that Choutarou was also suffering from the one-sided love with Shishido he'd had forever, so if anything, the kiss must have been out of empathy.

In the end though, the outcome had been a good one; he was at least satisfied with that. Now Hiyoshi was determined to get over him and go on with his life. The next big problem was going to be what to do about his new fiancé his family had just sprung on him. He turned onto his side and closed his eyes, trying to block out all the invading thoughts. Maybe taking a small nap would be nice.

Akaya was bored out of his mind. He knew he could go out and get a date in town or just around campus no problem, but he was feeling lazy tonight. In the end he decided to go see what Hiyoshi was up to. He was really curious to find out why the other boy had to go home against his will and see if he couldn't make any more progress on the bet from his last visit. He raised his fist and knocked on the door loudly.

Hiyoshi had finally just dozed off when he heard someone at the door. Ignoring it, he let out an unintelligible grumble before turning onto his other side, facing the wall.

Akaya frowned at the door when it didn't open. He thought about it for a moment, wondering if he'd gotten the day Hiyoshi was coming back wrong, but remembered that he was never wrong. With a little grin he grabbed the door handle and turned; unlocked. Score.

Black curls poked in the room and he glanced over at the futon. Was the mushroom asleep? Akaya crept over, and with a devilish grin, lay down behind the other boy and wrapped his arms around his waist.

Half asleep, Hiyoshi's sleep fogged brain was annoyed by the slight movements going on in back of him. When did it get so warm in his room? Letting out a small drowsy grumble, he twisted around again until his face came in contact with a hard warm surface. Immediately, his eyes sprang open to see a grinning Kirihara laying right next him. He froze. Was he dreaming? Maybe more like a nightmare. With an exasperated 'Ugh' his head collapsed forward, right into the crevice between Kirihara's neck and shoulder.

"Go back to sleep," Akaya purred, but couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice. He was honestly surprised he wasn't in some crazy hold right now, but he wasn't going to complain. Instead, he reached a hand up to Hiyoshi's hair and ran his fingers through the soft strands slowly.

Hiyoshi felt his face heat up. Okay, so maybe this wasn't a dream. Why was Kirihara in his room? How had they gotten into this position? And why the fuck had he not punched him and bunted him out by now? "How the hell did you get in my room, brat?" He asked tersely, forcing himself not jump away. He didn't want to act like a squeamish girl, even if it did make him more susceptible to evil molesting demons.

"You left the door unlocked," Akaya replied simply and continued his petting. "You should be more careful," he continued. He left out that he could still get in with a bobby pin and five minutes, even if the door was locked. Sanada never did figure out how the family stone always got stolen out of his locker that he was meticulous about locking.

Shit. He must have forgotten to lock it after Choutarou left. "Apparently." Hiyoshi answered, cursing himself for being so careless. "Did you want something, or do you make it a habit to molest people while they're trying to sleep?"

"I'm not molesting you," Akaya chided and started to slide his hands down toward Hiyoshi's ass and his grin twisted into a devilish smirk, "I can if you want me to though."

"You are an idiot." There was more resignation than distaste in Hiyoshi's tone. Deciding to save what was left of his dignity; he untangled Kirihara's hold on him and forcefully pushed him off the futon. Knowing he wasn't going to get anymore rest, he decided to at least try to get some work done. Raising an eyebrow to Kirihara's form on the floor, he quipped, "You gonna stay there and watch, or are you going to make yourself useful?"

Hiyoshi was lucky that the senpai's always picked on him worse back in junior high or he might have gotten mad and Akaya mad was never a good thing. "What do you want me to do?" He sat up and buried a hand in his black mess of hair to scratch at his scalp and stared at the other boy.

Unzipping his bag and starting to unpack the meticulously folded and placed contents, Hiyoshi threw his gi at Kirihara. "Here, you know where that goes. When you're done with that, the pants go in the drawer above it and the shirts get hung up in the closet." Smirking, he turned around to put his toiletries away. For some reason he had yet to figure out, Kirihara's presence didn't bother him anymore like it used to. He was still a psychotic molesting brat, but at least he could be a helpful one.

'At least it's something to do,' Kirihara reasoned and started to work on his assigned task. "So, mushroom head." He glanced over to Hiyoshi then back to his task at hand. "Why'd you have to go home, anyway? Your parents miss you that bad or something?"

"Don't call me that, brat," Hiyoshi countered coolly while trying to decide whether or not to answer the question. Shrugging, he figured it didn't matter if people knew. "My parents arranged an omiai, arranged marriage, for me; I had to go to meet my new fiancé and her family." There was no point in hiding it.

"An omiai?" Akaya repeated and stared at Hiyoshi for a moment before tilting his head to the side curiously. "You're getting married, huh?" He figured he'd have to double his efforts now so that the poor girl didn't end up with a wound up, sexually frustrated husband. It wasn't fair to her. "Is she hot?"

Hiyoshi had to force himself not to snicker. That was the first thing Kirihara had thought to respond with? Honestly, he hadn't really thought about it all that much. "I guess she is," he answered with a shrug, "I don't really know her since I just met her for the first time."

"...I didn't ask if she was nice, I was asking if she was attractive," Akaya mumbled and started hanging up the shirts. "What'd ya think when you first saw her? 'Oh, she's cute?' 'Damn, I bet she's great in bed?' Although, I guess that wouldn't be your first thought, huh, Chastity-san." Akaya giggled to himself and started on the next shirt.

"Heh, just because I don't feel the need to throw myself at anything with two legs and a sex organ doesn't mean I'm not interested." Hiyoshi bit out before he realized he'd just said that out loud. Hastily, he continued, "And who says I'm getting married? It's more like arranged dating." He used the words Choutarou had used to describe it. "All this is, is just another bothersome distraction my parents are throwing at me to try and turn me into the little heir they want."

"Heh, heh. So you are interested." Akaya grinned mischievously as he started on the last shirt. "Arranged dating is for people who can't get dates any other way, it's---" He stopped and stared at the last shirt. "No wonder your parents are trying to find you someone... You wear this?" He held up the hideous excuse for a shirt. He was no fashion guru or anything, but damn. He shook his head and continued. "And if you don't want to be their perfect little heir, tell them. It's your life, not theirs."

"Shut up! Stupid brat. Who cares what you think?" Hiyoshi grabbed the offended object from him and hung it up. "I could get a date if I wanted; I just have better things to do with my time." Crossing his arms over his chest, Hiyoshi glared. "Besides, it doesn't really matter all that much whether or not they want to hook me up with a fiancé. There's no one I'm interested in seeing anyway. Might as well make them happy."

"Like what?" Akaya asked, smirking back at him. "University is all about exploring. Besides, you really, really don't want to be stuck with the first girl you're with, especially not one your parents set you up with. She's probably one of those stuck up chicks that isn't going to sleep with you 'til you two are married. Then she'll try and run your life or something." He rolled his eyes at Hiyoshi and plopped down on the futon again. "Seriously dude, you should know this stuff, don't you read manga?"

Hiyoshi grudgingly had to admit that Kirihara may be right. Both Choutarou and Gakuto had also pointed out that he needed to do more 'exploring' while in college. Unfortunately, he had pretty much resigned himself to this future years ago when he had decided to take over the family dojo in place of his older brother. "No, I don't." He answered. "You know, you're not doing a very good job of proving to me you aren't a brat." Why was he saying all this to him anyway? It's not like they knew each other very well and there was no reason for Kirihara to even care about what was going on in his life.

"Maybe you should start." Akaya glared at him for the brat comment and stood yet again. Time had been kind to him and he'd grown a lot taller than he'd been in junior high, so he stood a few centimeters taller than Hiyoshi and he used the perspective to his advantage. "Five minutes max and I could prove to you how un-brat like I can be," he purred and let his features twist into the familiar suggestive smirk.

Hiyoshi was used to others using their height to try and intimidate him. The brat might be taller than him now, but that didn't mean a damn thing to him. If anything, Kirihara's determination to prove he wasn't a brat and his attempts to seduce him were almost… amusing. With a chuckle, he easily swept the other boys feet out from under him, making him crash back down in a sprawl on the futon. Sitting down next to him, Hiyoshi allowed himself a small snicker at the other boy's expense.

He was getting far too used to this. Akaya didn't even make a noise other than the dull thud as he hit the cushion. "Stop doing that," he mumbled and rolled to his side to face Hiyoshi. "I'll get you back when you least expect it."

Hiyoshi impulsively reached out to ruffle Kirihara's curly black hair and sat down next to him on the futon. "Sure, you just keep telling yourself that." The hair was a thick mess and impossible to actually run his hand through, so he just settled for scratching at the base where the hairline met his neck. He had to admit, Kirihara's chaotic existence was a nice change of pace from his usual quiet and tiresome lifestyle.

Akaya was about to bat the hand on his hair away but stopped immediately when the hand trailed down to his neck and started playing with his hair. He dropped his head to give the other boy better access and fought to keep from purring.

The picture Kirihara made next to him, nearly on his lap now, was almost comical. Hiyoshi leaned back against the wall as he continued to gently scratch Kirihara's untidy head of hair. His hair matched him perfectly, dark and chaotic with bouncy curls to signify his childlike behavior. His hand slowly made its way towards the back of his ears. It amazed him how easy it was to be close to this person who he'd loathed for years. Staring at nothing, he finally gave up on trying figure it out and let himself relax.

Akaya felt his eyelids getting heavy and frowned, if he slept now he'd have to do something later to wear himself out so he could sleep again. No one was going to want to play tennis in the middle of the night. Maybe he'd run laps or something. He was too comfortable to move right now though so he just closed his eyes and let himself fall all the way into the other boy's lap.

Hiyoshi wasn't sure how long they stayed like that; falling in and out of a doze while unconsciously petting Kirihara, who was now curled up on his lap like a content kitten. After a while though, his stomach started to protest. He'd forgotten to have lunch that day. Forcing himself awake, he looked down at the bundle of brat lying on top of him.

The guy had helped him pack and then unpack from his trip home, and despite having come into his room today uninvited, he hadn't been a nuisance. In fact, Kirihara had been a welcome distraction from today's emotional escapades. Hiyoshi figured he at least owed him dinner. Pulling at some wayward curls to get his attention, he casually asked, "Would you like to get something to eat? There's an Italian place not far from here."

To say Akaya was disappointed when Hiyoshi stopped petting him was an understatement. He glared up at him for tugging his hair, but the Hyotei alumni knew the key word to dispelling any irritation. "Hn? Food?" Okay, that was an acceptable reason to stop petting. "Your treat?" he asked with a little grin, but not getting off of the other boy's lap, the defined firm muscles made good pillows.

"Sure, brat." Hiyoshi responded, rolling his eyes. "Just don't get used to it." Then he added softly under his breath, "This is just a thank you for earlier."

Akaya's little grin spread ear to ear and he practically glowed. "Awesome, thanks!" He brought one of his hands up and pulled Hiyoshi down into a quick kiss before rolling off his lap and hurrying to the door. "Well, let's go then." He slid on his shoes and practically bounced next to the door while he waited for the other boy.

It all happened so fast that Hiyoshi didn't know how to respond. A corner of his mouth threatened to turn up in a small smile, but he forced it back down before it had a chance to surface. Standing up and making sure his wallet was still in his pocket he, in much calmer fashion, walked over to where Kirihara was waiting for him by the door. This time, on their way out, he remembered to lock the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

It was only Wednesday, and it already felt like one of the longest weeks of Hiyoshi's life. He had gone out on his first "date" with his fiancé, Keiko-san, on Monday. They only met up for lunch, so it hadn't been for very long, but it had solidified a few realities in his brain. One, that YES, he actually had a fiancé now, and two, that meant he had to start acting the part of "good boyfriend/fiancé" …Whatever that meant. Thankfully, as far as girls went, she wasn't that bad. She wasn't bad to look at and seemed very proper and polite. It was bothersome, but as least he wasn't dreading seeing her again.

Tuesday, he had met up with Choutarou for lunch at a ramen place his friend's sister had told him about. Needless to say, he should have kept his mouth shut up hanging out with Kirihara. Choutarou had more ammunition than usual to tease him. Now he was embarrassed just thinking about it. Gakuto had teased him, too, but that was nothing new.

Classes had been torture. Hiyoshi hated being behind on his school work and he didn't know the people in his classes well enough to ask to borrow their notes. He decided that he would NEVER miss a class ever again; grumbling at the fact that it was entirely his fathers fault in the first place he had missed classes at all.

Now, just getting out of business mathematics, he had a whole hour free before he had to be at his next class. Deciding to take a break from the indoors and enjoy the sun at his favorite spot, he made a right turn at the next hallway to exit the building.

Akaya walked lazily outside, his fingers laced behind his head as he hummed a hip-hop tune that had been stuck in his head all day. He'd just finished the bane of his existence, nutrition, and was now on his way to the cafeteria to get something greasy and deep fried, preferably covered in some kind of sauce.

He paused mid-step though when he saw Hiyoshi emerge from the building next to his. He was about to call out to him when he stopped. Where was he going anyway? He looked like he was walking somewhere with purpose and it intrigued him. So, he hid behind the corner of the building and watched the other man. He'd been bored anyway; maybe following Hiyoshi would prove interesting.

Going past a few more buildings and some trees, Hiyoshi took his time strolling through the area before walking over a grassy hill. On the other side of the hill was one of the small lakes hidden away on campus. Seeing that no one else was around at the moment, he dropped down onto the dry grass. He stared up at the sky for a few minutes, burying his fingers in the ground below him. It was nice and peaceful, and he enjoyed the sun's rays shining down on him in the quiet surroundings.

Akaya felt like a ninja, creeping around buildings and trees until Hiyoshi finally stopped on the grass. He waited a couple minutes waiting to see if he would do anything interesting, like have a secret rendezvous with some cute girl or something. But after watching the other man stare at the sky for minutes on end, he frowned. Hiyoshi was so boring!

Waiting until the other man was thoroughly distracted, he snuck up behind him. "Boo," he said quietly, close to his ear. Teach him to zone out.

He was right next to him; the other reason for Hiyoshi's long week. Unfortunately for Kirihara though, Hiyoshi had first heard his foot steps when he had been a few yards away. He mentally chastised himself as a martial artist for not sensing him sooner. "Ack. You scared me." He said in a dead-pan voice without even bothering to open his eyes.

Akaya frowned at his clever plot having been foiled. "You have to be one of the most boring people on the planet," he muttered and sat so he was straddling the other boy. "Seriously, who just sits there and stares at the sky?"

"So I'm boring," Hiyoshi countered, raising an eyebrow at Kirihara's choice of position on top of him. He was getting too used to the brat being this close to him. "Your problem for following me out here." He was comfortable where he was, having planted himself on the earth and rooted his fingers into the soil. He liked the feeling of being connected. He looked up at Kirihara's disgruntled face and smirked. "Maybe you shouldn't knock it before you try it."

"I thought you were going to have some secret meeting with a girl or something, I wanted to get blackmail info on you." Akaya slumped against Hiyoshi with a sigh and nuzzled his neck. "I should have known you weren't that exciting." He had no desire to sit and stare at the sky when there were other things he could be doing, like eating or molesting mushroom-heads.

Hiyoshi snickered underneath him. "Do you ever think with anything other than your dick, brat?" Apparently he was in a good mood now. How did that happen? It felt like Kirihara was trying to burrow his way into his body. He was acting like the childish brat he knew him to be, and for some reason, that made everything seem better. Feeling more energetic then he had all day, Hiyoshi grabbed Kirihara's arms and rolled them over so that he was now the one on top and Kirihara was left facing the sky. "Don't you think it's nice out today?" He asked him with an amused smirk on his face.

"It makes life interesting." Akaya laughed as they rolled over and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi's neck. At Hiyoshi's second question he answered without hesitation. "Yeah, it's great." It was only after he'd said the words that he thought about it. He still had yet to look at the sky or the trees or even the grass he was laying on. His eyes were fixed on Hiyoshi, so what was so great about the day? Maybe he was allergic to nature or mushrooms or something. Lately all he'd been thinking about was when he could go bother Hiyoshi. His mushroom-ness must be messing with his head.

"You haven't even looked, brat." Hiyoshi challenged as he noticed Kirihara seemed to be focusing only on him. Feeling self-conscious, he moved off him and slumped over onto his back again. "I like coming out here when it's nice out…" he admitted under his breath, not sure why he was even telling him.

Now that he actually looked, it wasn't too bad. It seemed to be a fairly excluded area and the sky really was beautiful if you cared about that sort of thing, "I can see why...." he mumbled. Maybe he'd start coming here, too. Hiyoshi would be there to bug, what other reason did he need?

Some clouds covered them for a moment, blocking out the sun, and a sudden chill ran up Hiyoshi's body as he felt the cold hit him. He'd always preferred hot over cold weather. He now regretted having worn short sleeves today. However, the cold was not a good enough reason to make him move away from his favorite spot on campus. He glared at the clouds and crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for the sun to re-appear.

"You're cold?" Akaya looked at him like he was crazy (or a sissy), then rolled his eyes and scooted closer to the other man. "Here, I'm really warm," he muttered and moved so his side was touching Hiyoshi's. Yes, he had ulterior motives, but who didn't?

Hiyoshi peaked at Kirihara untrustingly out of the corner of his eye. Whatever, at least he was warm. "I'm not that cold," he defended, but didn't move away. Then he had to try and hide another shiver as the cold wind raced over them again.

"Dumb mushroom," Akaya murmured and rolled so he was lying on top of Hiyoshi. "There, see, not cold anymore." He placed a kiss on the other's lips and grinned, quite proud of himself and his warmth.

Why did Kirihara have to keep doing that? Maybe he didn't mean it the way Hiyoshi thought he did. Perhaps he was just from one of those open minded families that liked to copy the Americans, or was just acting like a kid who liked to be overly affectionate and kiss everyone. Either way, he was much warmer now, and didn't feel threatened or the immediate need to push him off. His presence wasn't bothersome. Without thought, Hiyoshi reached up to scratch behind Kirihara's ears and down his neck as one would a pet, as he'd done previously.

Akaya grinned and nuzzled Hiyoshi's neck, giving the mushroom more access to scratch him. He loved the feeling of fingers in his hair. Hiyoshi was a lot like one of his senpai, he treated him really similar and he liked it, but unlike his senpai-tachi he really wanted to get to know the Hyotei alumni on a more physical level as well. The thought of sleeping with his senpai... he shuddered. It was like incest or something since he liked them better than his own family.

They stayed there for a few minutes, Hiyoshi enjoying the warmth and peaceful scenery, before lifting the hand that wasn't presently engulfed in Kirihara's curls to look at his wristwatch. It was almost time for his next class. "Do you have any more classes today?"

"Uh... I just had nutrition, so... uh..." Akaya pondered the question for a moment. "I think I have sports medicine, yeah." He grinned. His major classes were awesome, minus the whole nutrition thing, which could die a slow horrible death. Kinesiology was a harder major than he'd thought it would be.

Hiyoshi stopped his petting and sat up. "We should go then. Next class hour starts in ten minutes." He stood and brushed the grass and demon brat off. Picking up his bag, he started to make his way towards the main campus.

"Eh? Seriously?" Akaya pulled his phone out of his pocket as he jumped to his feet. "Oh, a text message from Himiko!" His happiness was short lived though as he realized that there was indeed only 10 minutes left until class. "Shit! I was going to eat during my break! Man, this sucks." He shoved his phone in his pocket again and pouted. "Nutrition always makes me hungry..." As if on cue, his stomach gave a loud rumble and his frown deepened.

Hiyoshi stopped to snicker softly at Kirihara's words and his stomach. "It's only a one hour class period next, right? I normally wait till afterword to have lunch." Usually he had lunch with Choutarou, but they hadn't actually scheduled to meet up that day. Deciding that Kirihara could choose his own fate, he continued to walk away from him and toward the building he needed to get to.

Akaya tilted his head to the side for a moment as he wondered why the hell Hiyoshi would think he cared about when he had lunch, but then it hit him. "Hey! After class, let's get lunch together!" He ran after Hiyoshi and threw an arm over his shoulder when he got close.

Hiyoshi mused that maybe he was just trying to be friends with the brat like Choutarou had said. Well, actually, Choutarou had insinuated more than that, but that was just because he was being a bastard. Trying to casually shrug off the arm Kirihara had placed around him, Hiyoshi inquired, "Aren't you going to meet up with Himiko? Or whoever else you plan on trying to sexually harass tonight?"

Akaya let his arm fall from the other's shoulder and then laced his fingers behind his head. "Oh! Forgot about Himiko-chan!" He pulled out his phone again and started typing away, completely un-phased by the sexual harassment comment. "And... Done! Alright, now I'm free until nine tonight." He grinned and shoved his phone back in his pocket. "Problem solved. Now we can go get food after class together."

Hiyoshi wasn't sure if he should feel flattered Kirihara had chosen him over one of his random um… acquaintances, or if he should be annoyed by the fact he assumed he wanted to spend the day with him. Well… why not? It's not like he had anything better to do. "Fine." He agreed in a neutral voice.

"Awesome!" Akaya grinned from ear to ear and hopped in front of Hiyoshi, making him stop walking. "Then I'll see you after class." With near expert skill, he leaned in and stole a kiss in front of a lot of very confused/offended/embarrassed students, then trotted off toward his class, waving over his shoulder at Hiyoshi.

Hiyoshi's eyes bugged out. His face was now the shade of a very ripe tomato. He couldn't even manage to move his mouth, let alone make a sound. Faster than he had ever been in his whole life, he dropped his head and nearly bolted for the safe confines of his classroom. DAMN IT! How could he have let that happen? He should have known better then to let his guard drop around Kirihara of all people. He was SO going to stand him up now. Okay… maybe he wouldn't, but he certainly WOULD get a piece of his mind, if not a punch in the nose.

Interlude: Hiyoshi

Journal:

I went out with Kirihara again today after classes got out. NO it was NOT a date, as my "friends" would have interpreted it. I was bored. I had finished all of my homework, even done a few assignments that aren't due for another week. I was tempted to call Choutarou or even Gakuto to entertain me, but I know they both have other people they would rather spend a Friday night with. It's not often that I actually feel like having company around, but when it does happen… it's very frustrating. I know I should've just called Keiko-san, but I've already seen her three times this week… I think that's enough to keep her happy. I have plans with her on Sunday anyway.

Then HE showed up at my room, AGAIN. Just came in without knocking and licked my neck. The back of my fucking neck! Heh, I tried to turn around and grab him, but the damn brat's learning to evade me. He accused me of being boring again… who gives a shit if I enjoy staring at my fucking walls? I guess I really was that desperate for company though because when he asked if I wanted to hang out with him, I actually accepted.

He wanted to go to the bars which I vetoed. I hate bars. They're crowded with idiots and smell terrible, and they always make me feel claustrophobic. Hell, I would be required to socialize with people I couldn't care less about. We finally agreed to go to an arcade. That was amusing. He spends way too much money on those ridiculous games, but the way he gets really into them and starts yelling is kind of… cute. It pissed me off that I couldn't win a single damn game against him. Next time I will definitely Gekokujou.

For lack of anything better to do, we went to a movie after that. It wasn't hard to find something we both agreed on since I don't care as long as there's a decent plot and he's fairly easy to please. He just likes watching shit be blown up, much like a certain annoying chipmunk senpai of mine. It would have been fine if he could've just kept his damn hands to himself. I think he's made it a personal goal of his to embarrass me as much as possible in public. I spent the whole first half of the movie holding him in (hopefully) discreet holds and covering his mouth to block out the whining so I could enjoy the damn movie. I will NOT go into what he was doing to my hand, but I finally gave up and just walked out when there was probably only about thirty minutes left. Of course, the damn brat had to chase after me with a shit eating grin on his face and then somehow convinced me to treat him to ice cream.

How I managed to stay out with him for so long without killing myself or him, I have no idea. He basically followed me back to my dorm after that and was talking my ear off about tennis and his "senpai-tachi" until I finally forced him out. Now it's late and I have no idea why I took the time to write all this shit out. I'm going to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

"That bitch," Akaya cursed as he stormed down the hall of the Daidaiiro dorm. He'd just had the worst day of his life. Okay, maybe just of the week, but it felt like his life, and he wanted to vent, or maybe he just wanted Hiyoshi to scratch his head for a while. Either way, he wanted to see the other boy so that his day wouldn't suck as much. He'd just finished telling a girl he'd been seeing on and off for the past couple weeks, whenever he felt the need for some physical release, that they shouldn't see each other anymore. She'd thrown a cup of soda on him. His shirt and hair were coated in the sticky liquid and it was almost completely dried from the long walk to Hiyoshi's room.

When he reached the now familiar door he didn't even pause to knock, just threw open the almost always unlocked door. "Oi Mushroom-hea—" His insult died in his throat when his eyes fell on the two kissing in the middle of the room. The girl had beautiful black hair that was perfectly styled and she even had perfect makeup that accented her beautifully. She was absolutely gorgeous, and she was kissing Hiyoshi? That wasn't cool and only served to piss him off even more. He hadn't been this mad in a long time and he felt the familiar tug of his bloodshot mode. He took a deep breath to keep it in check. He should be happy that Hiyoshi was finally loosening up and getting some action, but part of him said it should be him there. Not the rich bitch.

Hiyoshi had spent the majority of the day with Keiko-san. As per Gakuto's advice of what a normal date entailed; they had gone to a coffee shop, a cheesy romantic movie, then to dinner at an expensive restaurant. It hadn't been the first time she's asked to come back and see the inside of his dorm, but it was the first time he'd let her. She was a nice girl that supplied decent conversation. Both of them coming from traditional households with similar backgrounds made it easy to come up with discussion topics. Honestly though, she bored him. She was the stereotypical Japanese beauty with the perfect manners and perfect pedigree, but outside of that, there really wasn't anything that stood out to him.

When they had arrived back at his dorm, Hiyoshi hadn't been sure what to expect. She had been subtly asking to see the inside of his room on their last two dates, but Hiyoshi couldn't figure out why she would even care. Relenting, he finally invited her in. The minute they stepped through the door though, she started acting… strangely, as if she was expecting something from him. After a while she must have gotten tired of waiting, because her arms were around his neck and she was looking at him in what she must have thought to be a cute manner.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" She asked coyly.

'Oh' His mind supplied. 'I get it.' Well, why not? They had technically been engaged for two and a half weeks now, and today had been their fifth date. Slowly, he moved forward to bring their lips together. Her lips were extremely soft and tasted funny. Strawberry? She felt small and oddly cold in his arms. He had barely even gotten a chance to experiment when he heard his front door slam open. Quickly releasing her, he looked over to see who it was.

Kirihara? "What the hell are you doing here?" He didn't realize he'd said it out loud. The Rikkai boy looked like shit. His normally crazy hair that had a life of its own was plastered to his face, and his shirt looked stained. He also looked like he was about to murder someone.

"Who the fuck is that?" Akaya asked, ignoring the other man's question as the girl looked at him in disgust. "What the hell are you looking at?" he snapped. Normally he was polite to girls and in a normal situation he would have probably started turning on the charm, but today he was not in the mood. She was looking at him like he wasn't worthy to be in her presence and it was infuriating. He felt the tug of bloodshot and he knew his eyes were probably pink, but he knew better than to let that out off of the court.

Angry that Kirihara had just barged into his room and was yelling at him and his fiancé for no reason, Hiyoshi immediately stepped in front of her and countered his words. "My fiancé, brat. Remember, the one I told you about?" Keiko-san tugged at his sleeve and asked in a somewhat reproachful manner that was new to him, "Who is he? Don't tell me he's a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember—" Just when he'd finally started to get control again the woman had to open her mouth. "What the fuck did you say you scrawny bitch?" He growled as he tried to fight the anger down, he was more disciplined than this, he could suppress this. Maybe he should just walk away, that would help, but his feet wouldn't move.

Keiko let out an undignified squeak at Kirihara's insult, causing Hiyoshi to wince. He was being held in a death grip with nails and glared at by unnerving red eyes, not a good situation to be in. Look at Kirihara more closely, Hiyoshi realized there had to be something very wrong. He knew the brat had a temper, but this was something different. "Maybe you should go." he directed softly towards Keiko.

"Why should I leave, Wakashi?" She asked tartly as he started to lead her towards the door. "Shouldn't you call security or something?"

"Security? Heh. Whatever, like they could even touch me," Akaya snickered and titled his head back so he was looking down on the other two. He could hear his own voice change into that familiar taunting tone that his voice always adapted when he was letting that other side of him take over.

Starting to get truly worried that something was going to happen soon unless he did something about it, Hiyoshi escorted Keiko-san to the door. While passing by Kirihara, he whispered fiercely to him, "Stay here a minute brat, and stop making a scene." He then closed the door partway behind them.

"I apologize for his indecent behavior." Hiyoshi tried to appease the fuming girl. "I'll make it up to you next time." Seeing her still angry expression, he hastily leaned down and kissed her forehead, hoping it would calm her down enough to not put up a fuss. It seemed to do the trick because she gave him a small smile before agreeing to call him later, then made her exit. Taking a calming breath, he readied himself to enter the room again.

Hiyoshi and the bitch brushed past him on the way out and when Hiyoshi's arm brushed his Akaya growled forebodingly. "'m not a brat," he hissed and tried desperately to ignore Hiyoshi treating the horrid girl so sweetly. He knew that type well. They were good for a hot fuck, but they were backstabbing and hell to deal with for any longer than that.

Akaya clenched his hands into fists at his side and tried to calm himself down. He had no reason to be this upset, why was he so close to going bloodshot? It wasn't any of his business what Hiyoshi did, he knew that, but still...This wasn't normal at all and he hated that he was loosing control. This was why he'd worked so hard in high school, why he'd spent countless nights on a court with the ball machines, working himself until he couldn't even move. Then getting up and doing it again. It was so he could control this. He refused to let it break this easily. He didn't move from his spot near the door and he didn't take off his shoes. If he couldn't calm himself down, he'd need to leave and maybe call Yanagi-senpai. He was always able to deal with him when he was like this.

Then Akaya heard the words. "Indecent behavior?" He chuckled bitterly and looked down so his hair covered his eyes. He'd show him what real indecent behavior was.

Going back into the room, the first thing Hiyoshi did was spot where Kirihara had situated himself, still standing where he left him with his hair covering his eyes. "So, are you going to explain to me what the hell that was all about?"

With little bitter laugh, Akaya raised his head. "Nothing." He turned to look at Hiyoshi with almost fully red eyes. "Just wondering how long it'll take you to realize what type of girl she really is." He pushed Hiyoshi out of the way and opened the door, then turned to the other boy with a devilish smirk that was accented by the nearly glowing red of his eyes. "Just make sure you wear a condom when you fuck her, she's probably got some disease that'll rot your dick off." Maybe he was just trying to piss him off so he wouldn't be the only one who was having a bad day, but whatever the reason, he couldn't seem to stop himself. "See you around, Wakashi."

What!? If Kirihara was trying to make him mad, he was doing a damn good job of it. Before Kirihara was completely out the door, Hiyoshi violently grabbed him by the arm and tossed him back into the room. "Alright brat, I don't know what the fuck you're so angry about, but you don't go around insulting people you know nothing about!" Frankly, he could care less about him insulting Keiko-san, but what he really didn't like was his blatant attempts to piss him off. He closed and locked the door behind him and walked over to where Kirihara had landed. Taking a deep breath, he placed a hand on the temperamental boy's shoulder and commanded in a calmer voice, "Now, tell me what's wrong."

Akaya stumbled back into the room with a growl, he had hoped Hiyoshi would stop him; it kept him from taking out his frustration on the next unsuspecting person he saw. He looked down at Hiyoshi's hand on his shoulder and batted it away. "What do you care?" He narrowed his eyes and pushed Hiyoshi back against the nearest wall, hard, and felt some of his frustration fade. "You're just pissed because I interrupted your time with your little slut, you don't give a shit about me." Where the hell had that come from? Since when did he care what Hiyoshi thought about him? Was he jealous? No way, that didn't make any sense. Okay, maybe he was a little jealous that the other boy had seemed actually content with kissing her when every time he kissed him he got pushed away, but that was normal-ish... right?

"I care that a dumb brat who obviously has mental issues came barging into my room and started insulting me and my guest." Kirihara had a strong grip on his arms, but as usual, completely forgot about his legs. Knocking him off balance and using the grip already on his wrists, Hiyoshi twisted them around until they had completely switched positions. Now Kirihara was the one shoved up against the wall, except for this time, with Hiyoshi's leg between Akaya's and his upper body close to keep him in place. He had nowhere to move. "Now calm the fuck down."

"Fuck you." Akaya mumbled and struggled against Hiyoshi's iron tight hold. He needed to take a martial arts class or something so he could learn to guard his legs. That always seemed to be the way the other boy seemed to get the upper hand. Now that he was fully restrained the fight slowly started to seep out of him and his eyes started to lose their red tint. "This is pretty forward of you, Wakashi," he let the name roll off his tongue in an almost sing-song tone as he smirked and rolled his hips against the other boys. "Careful or you might make the bitch jealous."

Rolling his eyes at Kirihara's words and actions, Hiyoshi started to wonder. Is that what this was all about? Was Kirihara actually jealous? No, that was ridiculous. He probably just had a bad day and decided to take it out on him. Feeling the other boy's tense body start to relax, Hiyoshi slowly loosened his hold on him. Letting go of one of his hands, he brought it to the back of his head and started scratching where he knew the other boy liked it, hoping it would help calm him.

Amusedly, Hiyoshi thought it ironic that the first time Kirihara called him by his given name was also the first time he'd meant to call him something maliciously. "I think that was the first time you called me something that wasn't an insult. If I let you go now, are you going to behave?"

"No," Akaya answered simply, tilting his head so Hiyoshi could have better access. "I'm still in a bad mood so stay where you are." He brought his free arm around Hiyoshi's waist and pulled his hips flush against him. "Just... stay..." he mumbled and bent to rest his forehead against the shorter mans shoulder. It was comfortable and soothing and eased his tension completely, though the almost dry shirt was starting to stick to his skin and itch. He needed a shower, but that could wait.

With a confused look on his face, Hiyoshi did as asked and didn't move from their position against the wall for a few a minutes. Hesitantly, as he continued to pet him with one hand, he brought the other down as well. "You're all sticky," he observed. He could feel Kirihara's hair sticking to his neck, and his clothes were damp on one side. "Do you want to use the shower or borrow some clothes?"

"No, I'll take one when I leave..." Akaya murmured, though he did really want out of the shirt, it was getting irritating. He grudgingly pushed Hiyoshi away from him gently and stepped away from the wall so he could reach back over his shoulders to grab the shirt and pull it over his head. "That's better," he mumbled and tossed the shirt toward the door so he wouldn't forget it. He reached up to touch his sticky hair and frowned. "Damn..."

Hiyoshi would be damned to admit he regretted the loss of contact when he was pushed away, but he obliged as he watched the other boy begin to strip in his room. He felt his face heat up and quickly tried to cover it by walking towards his closet and picking out a shirt for him to borrow. "Here," he called out, tossing him a bright orange shirt with a white collar and stripe on it.

Akaya caught the shirt easily and promptly dropped it in disgust. "No." He picked it up carefully by the collar like it was a dirty diaper and tossed it back to Hiyoshi. "I'll go shirtless, thanks," he mumbled and sat down on the edge of the futon, at least his pants had somehow remained soda free.

"You shouldn't walk around without a shirt on," Hiyoshi criticized awkwardly as he hung the shirt back up in his well organized closet. "You could catch a cold that way." He didn't turn back around right away, first feeling the need to compose himself. 'This is ridiculous!' He admonished himself. Why was this happening to him now, when he spent the entire day with a gorgeous woman and... nothing.

"I've got a great immune system," Akaya countered and laughed a bit. "You worrying about me now or something?" When Hiyoshi didn't turn around though, his smile faded and he walked over to him. "Oi, you alright?" He wondered for a brief moment if he'd hurt him when he pushed him back against the wall, but he knew that couldn't be it. He hadn't used enough force to hurt a martial artist. Slowly he wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi's waist from behind and pulled him back against his bare chest.

At first Hiyoshi couldn't find the words to reply, and instead found his breath quickening as it seemed to do more often whenever Kirihara decided to drop in. Taking in a deep controlled breath, he counted down in his a head for a moment before answering, "Of course I'm alright, brat, and who said I was worried?" Feeling more confident of himself now, he tried to pull away from Kirihara's grasp.

Akaya chuckled and grabbed Hiyoshi's hips to keep him from getting away. "Oh, just admit it, you worry about me." He used the grip on the other's hips to turn him so they were facing each other, and promptly pulled Hiyoshi against him again. "You kicked out your fiancé in favor of spending time with me," he whispered and brought his lips so they were almost touching Hiyoshi's. "Do you think it would make her mad if I kissed you?"

"Probably." Hiyoshi answered back without thinking, his eyes meeting Kirihara's almost at an even level. Lately, whenever Kirihara got this close to him, his brain would do funny things… like not work. Shaking his head he added with a glare, "And I kicked out my fiancé so you wouldn't kill her."

Akaya's grin spread ear to ear, but he didn't back away or give Hiyoshi any space. "She would have been fine after a minor hospital visit," Akaya teased then finally closed the little distance that was left and kissed him heatedly.

Hot lips on his made Hiyoshi shudder and the prospect of stopping to think about what was happening left his mind immediately. His body reacted on instinct as he pressed himself against the other boy and lost himself to the warmth of Kirihara's body. He hadn't been kissed like this since the first time Kirihara had come barging into his room, and he had been loath to admit how much he'd been thinking about the possibility of a repeat performance.

When Hiyoshi started kissing him back, Akaya felt his heart speed up and his body shiver. He felt pride in knowing he did this to Hiyoshi, when all that girl could do was get him to kiss her chastely like he'd seen. For the second time that day, Akaya pushed the other boy back against the wall and pinned him there with his body as he tried to deepen the kiss.

It was so good… and hot, and a million other things Hiyoshi didn't have the brain capacity to think of right then. So different from Keiko-san who… Keiko-san. Shit. Ashamed at himself for letting it get this far, Hiyoshi heard himself moan in protest as he attempted to move away from the one that was holding him.

When Akaya felt him trying to get away, he pulled back just enough to speak. "What's wrong?" he purred, voice much deeper than usual.

Hiyoshi had to turn away so he wouldn't be looking directly into Kirihara's dark green eyes. "I can't do this," he whispered, not trusting his voice to sound normal. "I… I have a fiancé and… it wouldn't be right to..." He didn't think he had the strength or the resolve at the moment to actually push Kirihara away, so he just stood there and hoped things wouldn't get any worse.

Trust Hiyoshi to know exactly what to say to make him back off. Akaya frowned and backed away from the other boy, letting him have his personal space back. "Alright," he said with a resigned sigh. "Guess it can't be helped then." He stretched his arms above his head then scratched at his bare chest, making sure to not look at Hiyoshi. His pants were tight enough as it was, he didn't need to make the situation worse by thinking about how good the other boy's lips tasted and how well his body fit against Akaya's own or how good it would feel to push him back against that wall again and—Yeah, he needed to end that train of thought.

Hiyoshi took a deep breath and stood there while Kirihara pulled back. He had to reluctantly admit to himself now that Kirihara was more than just a random brat to him, but with the way things were, it probably would not matter what he felt. He knew from both others and Kirihara himself, what his relationships towards others generally composed of, and he was not willing to be some guy's random fuck. He also was not willing to compromise his family's wants and needs for his own selfish desires. Plus, he was not quite bastard enough to cheat on anyone, even if he didn't particularly care for them. However, that didn't mean he had to completely let go of the brat. Hiyoshi motioned towards the futon. "Lay down."

Well that was unexpected. Akaya followed Hiyoshi's motion to the futon and frowned, what could he possibly be planning? "Why?" he asked even as he did as he was told, lying down on the pillow he'd long since claimed as his own. Hadn't the other man just said himself that he didn't want to do anything since he was engaged? Had he changed his mind? Akaya knew his charm was irresistible, but this was still a new record.

"Shut up and turn over." Hiyoshi leaned down next to the futon and gracelessly pushed Kirihara over onto his stomach before digging his fingers into the muscles of his back. Being from a family of martial artists, especially one that used weapons on a daily basis, it was a given that injuries happened more often than not. Massage had been something introduced to him at a young age by his mother who was constantly giving them to his father.

Akaya didn't bother to hide the surprise on his face as he was rolled over. "Oi, what are you—" Then the fingers hit Akaya's muscles, working out the constantly present knots in his muscles from nearly endless tennis training, and he moaned. "Nn... damn..." It hurt, a little. But after the initial pain it felt amazing, and left him wanting more. "You're good at this..."

Hiyoshi could feel Kirihara relaxing underneath his confident hands and he dug harder at a particular bad spot on his right shoulder blade; probably from all the tennis. "Dojo. Training." He answered simply. "So, you finally going to tell me why you were so upset earlier? Or did you just need someone to yell at?" Now that he didn't have to look directly at him, and the awkwardness had passed, Hiyoshi was really curious to know what had made Kirihara mad enough to go all red-eyes on him.

Akaya winced and bit his lip until Hiyoshi moved onto another spot, then let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. "Some bitch poured soda on me and yelled at me in the middle of a restaurant. She had the mouth of a fucking sailor too," he mumbled and gave a test roll of his shoulder and found that, for once, it didn't pop. "When I got here and saw her it didn't help..." It was as close as the other was going to get to an apology for his almost irrational anger earlier, even though Akaya did feel a little bad for taking it out on him.

Hiyoshi didn't understand what the connection was between some girl at a restaurant and Keiko-san, but decided now was not the smartest time to ask. He took a few minutes to work on his left shoulder before moving down towards the center of his back. "What did you do to make her pour soda on you?" He started to make circular motions around the little bumps of knots that ran all the way up and down his spine.

"Damn that feels good..." Akaya muttered as the tension was worked out of his back and shook his head a little. "Nothing that deserved that." He turned his head a little further to the side so he could see Hiyoshi out of the corner of his eye. "All I did was say that we shouldn't see each other anymore. She was taking it rather well, you know. She was a bit teary eyed and all, but then the waitress smiled at me and she started yelling at me telling me I was cheating on her and all this shit and she just got even more mad when I said we weren't exclusive so I couldn't actually cheat on her and that's where the soda came in..."

Hiyoshi paused in his actions, only to continue a second later, moving down to the bottom of Akaya's spine. He was sure a small smile was showing through on his face and was glad that Kirihara wasn't looking at him. He could imagine exactly the scenario Kirihara was describing. "I see…" he responded, trying to keep the amusement out of his voice. "Maybe you should be more careful about who you're sleeping with and who you flaunt it around."

"I never even slept with the waitress though!" Akaya pouted, it wasn't fair that he was getting blamed for sleeping with the hot waitress when he had never even gotten the chance, especially because now he probably wouldn't get the chance. "And I'm always careful, I make sure they don't have any diseases or something and I always use protection." Sex-ed was one of the only classes Akaya had passed with flying colors and he had even kept his notes from the class. That he had taken notes was impressive in itself and had stunned many of his senpai.

Still trying not to snicker, Hiyoshi instead sighed in exasperation. "That's not exactly what I was talking about brat, but I guess I can't hope to expect anything else from you." Moving up, he started to slowly making his way down Kirihara's left arm.

Akaya wasn't sure what Hiyoshi meant, but he didn't press the issue. Why did it sound like Hiyoshi was trying not to laugh at him? "Whatever," he mumbled and moved his arm so the other could get to it easier. "What was she doing here anyway? Keigo--Kouga--Kiko--whatever the hell her name is? She go to school here?"

"Keiko, and she asked to see the inside of the dorm, so I brought her." Hiyoshi answered plainly. "We had only been here for less than ten minutes before you showed up. Turn around if you want me to do your other side." The futon was up against the wall, so he couldn't reach his other arm without crawling over him.

Immediately Akaya rolled over and flopped his arm into Hiyoshi's lap with a grin, at least he didn't have to crane his neck to see him anymore. "So if I hadn't showed up and ruined your little Kodak moment, what were you two going to do? It looked like she had other plans for you than just standing there kissing." His grin turned into his trademark devious smirk. The thought of Hiyoshi sleeping with that stuck up girl still pissed him off for reasons he couldn't explain, but it would have finally gotten his friend laid and probably would have helped him to be more relaxed and open minded. Then, maybe he could steal Hiyoshi away from—Wait. Why the hell would he want to steal Hiyoshi from anyone? The only thing he wanted other than friendship from the man was a quick romp in the sack... right? Okay, maybe he wanted the massages too...

Hiyoshi frowned at Kirihara's words and his new position. He had meant for him turn around the other way so he would still be lying on his stomach. He started working on his right arm, pushing hard on the knots near the top where his arm connected to his shoulder. This had to be his prominent tennis arm. "I don't know what she expected, but I doubt things would have gone much farther than what you so rudely walked in on." Why was he telling him this? It wasn't like the brat cared what he did. "It's none of your business anyway."

"It may not be my business, but I still wanna know." Akaya grinned and tried to keep from wincing at the pressure on the sore spots of his arm. "You gotta loosen up more, Wakashi." He liked that name, it rolled off his tongue easily.

Rolling his eyes, Hiyoshi slowly worked his way down Kirihara's right arm and noticed him wince. "Tell me if I'm going too hard." He thought about how Kirihara had just called his name. No one but his family and Choutarou called him by his given name. "Is that what you're going to call me from now on?" He inquired with a smirk. "Does this mean you're done comparing me to fungus?"

"No way in hell mushroom-boy," Akaya laughed and shook his head. "Once a mushroom, always a mushroom." He closed his eyes and focused on the soothing feeling of all the muscles in his arm relaxing.

Yanking roughly at Kirihara's arm, Hiyoshi leaned in close to his ear to whisper gruffly, "Fine, brat." He then moved back quickly, almost in disbelief that he had just done that. Kirihara was a bad, bad influence.

Hiyoshi's breath tingled his ear and Akaya couldn't help but shiver. His shocked expression faded to a light smirk and he reached up with his free hand to run his fingers through the other boy's hair. "I'm not a brat," he answered reflexively.

"Yes you are," Hiyoshi countered quietly before sitting back up and starting to work on the calluses all over Kirihara's hand. There were a lot and Hiyoshi dug at them without mercy.

"Am not," Akaya muttered and squirmed. Hiyoshi was doing it on purpose, he had to be, but it hurt in such a good way that he couldn't just wince and bear it.

Hiyoshi was tempted to reply in the affirmative again, but knew that the resulting war would then last them the rest of the evening if instigated. He let it drop.

Akaya opened his eyes again when he felt Hiyoshi's fingers brush over his wrist weight. He pulled his arm away just long enough to slide the ever present weight off. "I always forget that's there. Been wearing wrist weights for years now." He looked at his wrist and the large pale strip that ran around it.

'Always win' 'Losing is not permitted' The words echoed in his head whenever he took the bands off. The weight had increased over the years but he still wore the same bands he'd had since junior high and he never took them off, not even for showers or swimming, they were neoprene and designed for it anyway. He was always a bit scared to remove them since he was fairly certain Yukimura had a psychic link with his. Whenever he'd tried to take them off in junior high, he'd always gotten a call minutes later from his buchou telling him to put them back on. Part of him missed those days, the other part was content to just lay here with Hiyoshi and enjoy the massage.

Finishing the hand massage; Hiyoshi moved his hands up to Kirihara's hair with the intention of running his hands through it, but then he remembered the sticky syrup was still in it. 'Ick' He thought in annoyance, feeling put out. It had become somewhat of a habit to scratch and comb his hands through that head of messy curls. Not sure how to proceed, he waited a moment to see what the brat would do next.

Akaya sat up and gave a couple test flexes and rolls of his arm. It felt so smooth and easy that he couldn't help but grin. "Wow, this is awesome." He took his wrist weight and put it back on and then gave another roll of his arm and chuckled. "Thanks, you should do that more often."

Hiyoshi was satisfied. Kirihara seemed to be in a much better and more relaxed mood now. "Heh. Sorry, this was just the free trial. After this I'll demand compensation." He looked at his digital clock. Was it really almost midnight? He guessed that made sense. He hadn't gotten back with Keiko-san until after ten. Trying to cover a yawn, he stood to get the pajama pants he usually slept in.

"Damn..." That wasn't fair, teasing him with those amazing massages. Akaya wondered absently how much Hiyoshi would charge him. Maybe he'd get a friend discount?

"Going to bed already?" Akaya asked curiously, his eyes following Hiyoshi around the room. "It's still early." He didn't go to bed until late since he usually had a date to 'entertain' in the evening.

"I've been trying to wake up early to work out and stretch. I have to keep in shape somehow since I'm not involved in many extra activities this semester." Finding the pants and his toothbrush, Hiyoshi went to the door. "Also, I've been out with Keiko-san since this morning. Che, I had no idea it took so much energy to go window shopping until I started dating her. I'll be right back." He left the room, closing the door behind him. It hadn't occurred to him till after he had left that he should have told Kirihara to leave before he went to go get ready for bed. Shrugging, he continued on his way to the communal bathroom down the hall.

Akaya frowned at the closed door. "Boring... Can't even change in the same room," he murmured and looked around the room. He opened drawers and looked in boxes; he even stuck his head in the closet to see if anything had changed. There were no dirty magazines or toys anywhere. How had Hiyoshi survived so long?

Hiyoshi returned only a few minutes later with newly brushed teeth, washed face, and only his pajama pants on. He threw the clothes he had been wearing into the dirty laundry hamper he kept at the end of the futon near the closet. He then noticed that Kirihara was not where he had left him and one of his drawers was not closed all the way. "Were you looking for something?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just proof that you're hu—" Akaya paused mid-thought as his eyes locked onto Hiyoshi's now bare chest, "...man..." he whispered and forced himself to look at something else. "Damn tease," he mumbled and scratched the back of his head where it wasn't sticky.

With a smirk on his face, Hiyoshi approached him and whispered in his ear, "am not." He was learning it was fun to use Kirihara's own teasing tactics against him. Then he went back to the futon and sat down, not sure how to continue from there. He really did need to get to sleep soon, but he also liked having the other boy there with him. Damn. He was acting like some ridiculous needy girl. "I'm going to bed. It's time for you to leave."

Akaya shivered and suppressed a growl. This was just more proof that Hiyoshi was evil and a tease, whether he knew it or not. "Whatever." He walked over and bent down to kiss Hiyoshi on the lips, but paused when his lips were just a breath away from the other boy's. Remembering what he'd said earlier, he kissed him on the cheek instead. "I'll see ya later."

Hiyoshi wasn't sure what surprised him more, the fact that Kirihara had basically just kissed him goodnight, or that he had done so on his cheek. Thankfully, he was used to Kirihara surprising him by now. He schooled his face into what he hoped was an indifferent expression. "Goodnight."

Picking up his shirt on the way out, Akaya draped it over the back of his neck and sighed as the door clicked shut behind him. It had been a long day. Tomorrow he'd have to double his bloodshot training, but for now, he just wanted a shower and to go back to his room and watch a cheap porno. So he walked down the hall with the intent to do just that.


	5. Chapter 5

It was dark and cold and Akaya was shivering as he ran toward the Daidaiiro dorm in just his boxers. He didn't know why he was going to Hiyoshi's room instead of Sanada's room, as he usually did on nights like this, but none the less, he kept running. He'd had a nightmare that he hadn't had since he was little and it had shaken him up badly, though he would never admit it. As he got to the room he didn't even knock, he just turned the handle and entered. Hiyoshi really needed to remember to lock his door.

He crawled into the bed and snuggled up to Hiyoshi's back, still shivering from the dream. He already felt a bit better just having someone around that he cared about. Wait, cared about? That wasn't right---oh well, he wouldn't worry about it at the moment.

Hiyoshi hadn't been asleep long. Once again, he had been made to spend the majority of his day after classes with Keiko-san. Spending the day with her usually meant coming home late with an empty wallet and all of his energy sucked out of him, and he still needed to get his homework done. He had gone to bed a lot later than he would have liked.

Nevertheless, Hiyoshi was sound asleep until a noise had partially woken him up. He started to fall back asleep until he felt something cold against his back. He would have thought maybe his blankets had just fallen off; he had a lot of blankets since he got cold easily, except it was shivering. Not really concerned in his sleep deprived state, he slowly turned around to investigate. Kirihara? What was he doing here? "What the hell are you doing here, brat?" He mumbled half consciously. "It's the middle of the night." It didn't even occur to him to ask why he was in his bed.

"Can I stay?" Akaya wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi's waist and pressed himself closer against him as he tried to calm his body and mind. There was adrenaline rushing through his veins and he couldn't stop the shaking or his racing heart. "Please?" His voice was quiet and shaky, almost fragile sounding.

Now Hiyoshi was more awake. The brat was being polite? Well, as polite as he could be for coming into his room without asking and waking him up in the middle of the night. He was cold. Kirihara was NEVER cold. He quickly covered them both with the blankets and wrapped his arms around the other boy's shoulders to warm him up. "What happened?" He asked, trying to be gentle, which was not his forte. "Did you get drunk and lock yourself out or something?"

"It--it's nothing..."Akaya muttered and snuggled closer. He didn't want to admit that he'd been so freaked out because of a dream. He didn't want Hiyoshi to see him as weak. "I just... don't wanna go back there right now..." 'I don't want to be alone,' he finished in his head.

"Don't want to go back where?" Hiyoshi didn't like the way Kirihara was still shaking. Now that he was underneath the blankets, his body was warming up again. He shouldn't still be shaking. He hadn't seen his friend for a few days since he'd been busy with school and Keiko-san. The brat had supposedly been training non-stop, or so he had heard. Maybe something had happened that he didn't know about. He lightly stroked the brat's back, which he just now uncomfortably realized didn't have a shirt covering it. "I think I at least deserve to know why you decided to come over and wake me up in the middle of the night."

"My room..." Akaya couldn't close his eyes. Every time he did, he saw the scene from his dream. All the bodies lying out before him. Hiyoshi was right though, he did deserve an explanation, "...Nightmare..." he said quietly and tightened his arms around the other man momentarily. It was embarrassing to say and made him feel like a little kid again, sneaking into his parents bed.

A bad dream? Kirihara had come to his room and woken him up in the middle of the night because of a bad dream? "Shit…You really are a brat. You had to come over here and wake me up for that?" In spite of his cruel tone, Hiyoshi slowly moved his arms down to wind them around Kirihara's waist and hugged the other man back. It wasn't a natural action for Hiyoshi, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

"Sorry..." Akaya said humbly. He felt bad for waking the other boy up, but at least it didn't seem Hiyoshi was going to kick him out.

"Stop that!" Hiyoshi snapped irritably. He didn't like it that Kirihara was acting so subdued, it didn't suit him. "It was just a stupid dream and it doesn't mean shit… Look at me when I'm talking to you, idiot." He held Kirihara's chin, forcing him to look at him as he reprimanded seriously. "Dreams aren't real and they don't mean anything. All that ever comes of nightmares is a lack of sleep, nothing else. Do I make myself clear?"

Akaya's eyes went wide with shock as Hiyoshi scolded him. "Uh--y-yeah..." He nodded and forced a little smile. He wanted to say thank you but couldn't find the words, so he locked his eyes on the other boy's and kissed him slowly.

Hiyoshi was about to go off on another rant about the importance of getting a good night's rest, sleep was something Hiyoshi appreciated dearly, when he felt those lips on his and lost his train of thought completely. A small moan escaped him and his hand on Kirihara's chin slowly made its way to his cheek before burying itself in his hair and pulling him closer.

Finally letting his eyes flutter shut, Akaya licked lightly at Hiyoshi's lips, practically begging for entrance. For the first time since he'd woken up, he wasn't shaking. When it came to kissing he was confidant no matter how scared or shaken up he was. Not to mention, the other's kiss seemed to calm him more than any words could, and that little moan was enough to draw an answering one from his own throat.

Hiyoshi couldn't think as that warm tongue slid along the seam of his lips. Opening his mouth with a groan, Hiyoshi surrendered to his own suppressed desires. He allowed the brat's tongue entrance, shuddering as he felt the other's body move against his. Kirihara felt so damn good against him and all of Hiyoshi's repressed desires cried out for this not to stop.

Akaya pushed Hiyoshi back slowly so he was lying on top of him, but he was careful not to break the kiss. He braced himself on one arm and let his other explore Hiyoshi's bare chest. The muscles were defined and firm, but in a different way than his. This was the chest of a powerful martial artist, not the chest of a tennis player who trained too much. He didn't know what had changed Hiyoshi's mind about kissing him, but he was definitely not going to complain.

Hiyoshi felt he was being pushed onto his back, but ignored the alarms going off inside his head. Instead, allowing being covered by the boy's warm and hard body. His taste, his smell, his touch… they had somehow all become so familiar to him. He distantly heard another moan and wondered if that was him or Kirihara.

Akaya's hand knew what to do even without him controlling it. He was experienced. Hell, he could do this in his sleep (and probably had). It trailed down Hiyoshi's side until it found his hip and he rubbed it gently before letting it move down the other's leg. He pulled the limb up and rolled his hips down against Hiyoshi's on reflex. The kiss made his heart race again, but this time in a good way, and his breath caught in his throat.

Brain in a fog of lust and sleep, Hiyoshi's hips bucked up at the unexpected motion, causing him to growl under his breath. He clumsily tried to reciprocate Kirihara's hold on him to bring him even closer, and do that again. Every touch, every move the other boy made against him was like fire racing down his skin. He'd tried to ignore this, denying any chance that he could possibly feel anything but friendship for his brat. To accept the reality that he… SHIT. He violently shoved the other boy off of him, managing to completely throw him off the futon.

As Akaya was thrown off the futon, his head cracked back against the floor and he grabbed it, cursing. "Ow! Fuck." He balled himself up on the floor and groaned. "You could have said stop..." he murmured and sat up as the throbbing in his head finally subsided.

Breathing hard, Hiyoshi tried desperately to collect himself. He was absolutely furious. 'What was I thinking? Have I completely lost my mind?' He prided himself on self-control, and now he had gone and done exactly what he had been trying to avoid. "Is this what you do to all your conquests? Claim to have bad dreams then take advantage of their sympathy?"

The wild haired boy winced and looked away. "Conquests?" He didn't know why, but the word made his chest hurt. It felt like when he'd seen Sanada lose to Echizen back in junior high. It was like disappointment, fear, and hurt, all mixed together. He didn't understand it any better now than he had back then. "W-whatever, I'll leave, alright? Will that make you feel better?"

It took all of two seconds for Hiyoshi to feel the pang of guilt well up in his chest. He was being irrational. It hadn't been all Kirihara's fault that this had happened. "Damn it. Come back here. Brat! Hey! AKAYA!" He hadn't meant to call out to him like that. He knew though as he watched Kirihara make to leave, that if he let him walk out then, he would regret it.

Akaya paused mid-step and blinked in surprise. Had Hiyoshi just called him by his first name? "Eh?" He cocked his head to the side and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He heard his name all the time. All his senpai called him that (except Yagyuu, but that was just because he was so polite all the time), his family called him that, almost all of his lovers called him that, but none of them had ever made him shiver (in a good way) when they said it. Not like Hiyoshi just had.

It wasn't like Hiyoshi could take back what just happened and un-kiss him, and he wasn't going to kick the brat out in the middle of the night with just his boxers on. Hiyoshi reached out, grabbed Kirihara's arm, and roughly pulled him back down on to the futon with him, covering them both with the blankets. His arm came around the brat's waist so he wouldn't try to leave again. "Just for tonight, brat." He said softly from behind him. "Now, go to sleep."

Akaya swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. Hiyoshi was right. He needed to sleep. He had class in the morning. "Good night..." he mumbled and closed his eyes as he rested his hand on the arm that was still wrapped around him, fully aware he wouldn't be getting to sleep for quite a while. At least he wasn't alone now.

Hiyoshi was tired, very tired. He didn't know what this meant and didn't want to think about it right now. Letting out a long breath, he watched as it made Kirihara's curls sway slightly in front of him. He closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. "Good night..." he whispered back in a low tone, just barely loud enough to be heard.

After Akaya felt Hiyoshi's breath even out a bit, he rolled over in his arms and watched him sleep. It was pretty boring, but it was nice to see such a relaxed expression on the other's face. Their breaths mingled and his arms reached out to pull Hiyoshi closer. With his forehead resting against the brown bangs that covered the mushrooms forehead, Akaya closed his eyes again and tried to match his breathing to the slow rhythmic movements of Hiyoshi's chest. Before he realized he was even tired, he had drifted off into a peaceful dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a Friday night and Kirihara was on the prowl. He was in desperate need of a date after his little sleep over with Hiyoshi. He was sexually frustrated and wanted to drink and find some random girl or guy to have a one-night-stand with. As he entered his favorite bar, Shochu, he scanned the room with his expert eye. It was a busy night, of course, but it was mostly business men and couples. He turned on his mischievous smirk, these were not ideal conditions but he would work with what he had.

He walked over to an open bar stool and sat down next to a girl who looked vaguely familiar, maybe he'd seen her on campus or something, but he couldn't place it. "Hey, how's it going?"

Keiko had been nursing her martini for quite some time now. She had invited Wakashi here in hopes to get him to relax a little and maybe even open up to her a bit. Her stoic and hot fiancé was a little on the innocent side and, despite her efforts, he seemed to elude her every attempt to get them alone together. The one time she'd managed to finally get them alone in his room, that vulgar boy with the ridiculous hair and weird eyes had infuriatingly interrupted them. If it wasn't for the fact that it had been the first time her sweetheart had been forward enough to kiss her, she would have definitely made him regret it.

It had taken quite a bit of convincing to even get her fiancé to agree to come here in the first place. She had finally talked him into it by assuring him it was a more upscale bar and they would leave if things got too rowdy. Having determined that Wakashi-san didn't do well around large crowds, this was an opportunity to get him to loosen up and maybe even convince him to go somewhere more private after.

Her sweetheart was currently using the facilities when another man came up next her and started hitting on her. Being the beauty that she was, it was expected. Turning around and giving the somewhat familiar man a cold smile, she replied to his unoriginal pick up line, "Sorry, that seat is taken."

Once the girl spoke to him, Akaya frowned. She was the best looking girl in the place, and not only was she apparently taken, she was a bitch, great. He growled to himself and ordered a shot of tequila; he was going to need it. "Oh? And who's it taken by?" He smiled, not quite ready to give up the charm just yet. After all, he wasn't planning on talking to her all night; he only wanted one thing from her.

Keiko smiled wickedly, enjoying the attention. She knew she was by far the most beautiful girl there and the poor thing was doing his best. Too bad she had to break his little heart. "My gorgeous and sweet fiancé," she smiled cutely at him. Teasing those that tried to pick her up was a fun past time.

"Oh?" Definitely a bitch. Akaya's smirk only grew though. "I see. Gorgeous, huh? Maybe I chose the wrong person to pick up on." It had been a while since he'd been with a guy and since the tension from the other night was because of a man, maybe it would be best to spend the night with a man. Besides, they were easier to deal with and didn't expect a relationship from a one night sexual encounter.

The silly boy' words made her laugh; a high pitched giggle she demurely covered with her right hand. With a conceited lilt in her voice, she teased, "You'll have to pardon me for saying so, but what makes you think my Wakashi would ever be interested in a boy like you when he already has a woman like me?"

That caught Akaya off guard. "Wakashi..." Now he understood why the woman was so familiar. "You—heh, heh. You have no idea what he really likes," Akaya mumbled and downed his shot then ordered another. Not that he really knew what Hiyoshi liked either, but he knew more than she did. He was pissed that Hiyoshi had agreed to come there with the bitch after he'd turned him down and said he never went to bars, the liar. "And you're no woman. You're a stuck up spoiled brat."

Taken back by the complete behavioral change towards her, and vulgar remarks. Keiko sat there perplexed for a moment. Wait… She thought that hair looked familiar, but the eyes were a completely different color. "You can't be…" She immediately righted herself in her chair and threw him an icy glare. "You must be the mentally troubled friend my Wakashi took pity on." She was not happy about this turn of events and was about to get up and look for her fiancé when what he said registered. "What do you mean I have no idea what he likes? Of course I do! I'm his fiancé!" What right did this boy have to presume he knew her fiancé better than her!

"I'm not the mentally troubled one, princess," Akaya mumbled and downed his second shot. "And I mean just what I said. So tell me, princess, how does he kiss YOU?" He smirked devilishly at her and leaned forward so his face was just a few inches from her. He couldn't help but mess with the woman, she made it too easy. That it was the truth just made it all the sweeter.

The daughter of a traditional martial arts master couldn't believe she was hearing this. "Are you insinuating that my Wakashi kissed you? That's absurd!" She laughed at him and gracefully got up from her chair to put more space between them. The thought of her fiancé doing… things like that disgusted her and she wasn't planning on sticking around to hear any more of his lies. What was taking Wakashi so long? She turned arrogantly towards the messy haired freak. "You must be seriously sick in the head to think such thoughts. Or maybe you're just jealous." She looked at him smugly. "I'll have you know that my sweetheart is the sweetest man in the world and a very passionate lover."

At that Akaya let out a loud barking laugh. "You're so full of shit." He stood as well and looked down at her with his devilish grin reaching ear to ear. "He's never gone all the way with anyone before, oh and sweetheart," he reached out and brushed back a strand of her hair, "I was his first kiss, trust me, I'm not jealous of a bitter old hag like you."

"You…" Feeling her cheeks burning red in embarrassment, Keiko picked up her purse and pushed away from the bar. She needed to find wherever Wakashi had gone off to and make him deny everything she just heard. Thankfully, when she turned around, she saw him right in front of her. He was across the room on the other side of the dance floor, looking around as if he was lost. Resolutely she made her way towards him without looking back at the pervert behind her.

Hiyoshi hadn't wanted to go out that evening. After the previous night with Kirihara, he'd felt drained and confused, and more than a little guilty. That's why he'd allowed Keiko-san to drag him out here tonight and even let her convince him to down a shot or two. However, they hadn't even been there for long and the noise and crowd were already giving him a headache. Using the excuse that he needed to use the facilities, he'd quickly walked outside to the patio instead for some fresh air. He'd stayed out longer then he should have, but dreaded the idea of going back into that idiot filled space. Giving into the inevitable, he enjoyed a second longer of relative peace before making his way back inside.

These places always managed to give him a headache, especially when he was already dizzy from the alcohol. With so many people it was difficult to locate where he had left Keiko-san. Then he saw her coming towards him. She looked upset, and as if she were about to ask him something. Then, abruptly the music around them switched from a loud fast beat to a slow melody. Apparently changing her mind, she instead asked him to dance with her. This sort of dancing was not something he ever willingly did, but if he managed to put up with one song, he might be able to convince her to leave after.

This was what Keiko had wanted. She was grateful Wakashi had almost immediately agreed to dance with her. How could she even think that her fiancé would do the things that boy had said. Letting him lead her out onto the dance floor, Keiko placed her arms on his shoulders and leaned her head onto his well muscled chest as they slowly swayed in time to the music. His arms were gentle but firm around her. Her fiancé was always so gentle with her, as if he was afraid to touch her. It was sweet, but someday soon she would break him of that. Suddenly, he stopped, even as the music continued playing. She looked up at his face to ask what was wrong when what she saw made her eyes widen.

The expression on Wakashi's face was one she had never seen before. He looked… surprised at first, then almost sad, before a smile finally threatened to overtake his finely set features. He never made those faces with her, always looking either bored or contemplative. She'd supposed that's just the way he was, and she had no problem with the quiet brooding types, as long as they were hot. Nervously, she looked over her shoulder to see what or who he was looking at.

Still seated at the bar, with a shot of tequila in hand, Akaya watched the two dancing. Hiyoshi's movements were stiff, but he was fairly certain it was just due to inexperience. Maybe he could give the mushroom-head dance lessons and get him loosened up. He pictured himself dancing with Hiyoshi and realized his face was flushed, must be from the alcohol. Yeah, that was it. Damn tequila.

Akaya couldn't keep the smug smirk off his face though when Hiyoshi finally spotted him and froze. The mushroom looked almost ready to smile. That was all the proof he needed to show the bitch he'd been serious, but it didn't hurt to get a little more.

Akaya stood and made his way out onto the dance floor, carefully maneuvering his way around the other couples. Once he made it to Hiyoshi and Keiko, he set a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?" His smirk stretched from ear to ear as he turned his eyes to Keiko.

Hiyoshi was genuinely shocked at first when he saw Kirihara sitting at the bar, then realized how ridiculous that was. The reason why he would be there was pretty obvious. He really shouldn't be that surprised. A small smile formed on his lips, thinking about how predictable the brat was. He was surprised though when Kirihara came toward them. That really wasn't a good idea. When Kirihara asked to cut in, his first thought had been a puzzled 'Why would he want to dance with Keiko-san?' He looked at him questioningly, not noticing how silent the girl in his arms had fallen.

"Come on, the next song's about to start." Akaya all but pushed Keiko out of the way and stepped in front of Hiyoshi. "Naa, Wakashi?" He wasn't jealous per say but he definitely wanted attention. Though he had a feeling this would just end in more sexual frustration. Oh well, that's why the gods gave him hands, right?

Keiko could only watch as it all happened in front of her. It was him, that boy. She couldn't believe it. How dare he embarrass her like this! And why was Wakashi letting him do it? She didn't want to believe that her dear sweet fiancé could be… but what else could it mean? Turning on her heel and feeling more humiliated then she had in her entire life, she ran out of the establishment without even once looking back.

What the hell!? How had this happened? One moment Keiko-san had been dancing with him, and in the next, Kirihara had replaced her. It was like one of those bad dreams where his brain wasn't able to move fast enough to keep up. Maybe it was because of all the shots Keiko had placed in front of him when they first arrived. Kirihara put his arms around him and started to sway against him. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" He all but yelled into Kirihara's face. He looked up and saw that Keiko was already half way to the exit. He quickly tried to pull away from the other man's grasp to go after her.

"Let her go," Akaya said smoothly, seemingly un-phased by the other's angry outburst, but released him anyway. He wasn't the type to hold someone back, especially not an angry martial artist. "She doesn't care about you anyway, why can't you see that?" There were a few people stopping to stare at them now, interested in the drama that was going on. He resisted the urge to growl; they weren't a damn TV show.

Hiyoshi knew he needed to go after her, but it was stuffy in there, and the room was swimming with couples, making him feel slightly unsteady on his feet. What Kirihara had said angered him. "What? And you do?" he snarled in Kirihara's direction before attempting to waver his way unsteadily through the crowd toward the exit he'd seen her go out of. He got outside just in time to watch her drive away in a taxi. Damn it! He needed to sit down. He needed to go back inside and pay the bill. He didn't want to go back inside. He backed himself up against the outside wall of the bar and tried to center himself again, taking deep calming breaths.

Akaya stayed rooted to the spot as Hiyoshi stumbled off. 'What? And you do?' The question echoed in his head and he frowned. "That's just stupid..." he mumbled and walked over to the bartender who was looking at Hiyoshi leaving with an angry disapproving expression. "Hey gramps, relax, I'm paying for them," he said calmly and paid the bartender what was owed.

After the three of them were debt free, Akaya walked out of the bar and looked around. Hiyoshi was probably long gone after that stupid girl now. He sighed and scratched his head, smiling at a mildly attractive girl who was walking by with her boy--...check the left ring finger... husband. Damn. He turned towards the way home and blinked in surprise as he came nearly face to face with Hiyoshi who looked a little worse for wear. "Hey... You alright?"

Hiyoshi didn't need to look up to know who it was. "Go away, brat." This didn't just happen. How could he let this happen? It was his entire fault for letting Kirihara get to him, for thinking even for a moment that the brat could be anything more than a nuisance. Pushing himself away from wall and steadying himself, he went to go back into the bar to pay his bill.

As Hiyoshi tried to push past him, Akaya held out an arm and stopped him. "It's already paid," he said quietly. "You can't hold your alcohol can you?" He forced a little chuckle. Hiyoshi really did look horrible, how much had she forced down his throat? She had to have forced him; he was far too… innocent to have drunk much on his own.

Hiyoshi shoved Kirihara away, not bothering to thank him for covering the tab. He didn't deserve it, the bastard. "I was just getting claustrophobic from being surrounded by too many idiots at once." He dismissed the idea that he was at all drunk. What was going to happen now? Would Keiko-san listen to him if he tried to explain? What would his family do if she told them… Wait. Why had she run off like that, anyway? Yes, Kirihara had acted like a bastard, but that wouldn't have warranted that kind of response. Unless there was something he didn't know. Turning around and facing Kirihara again, he bit out furiously, "What did you do? Did you say something to her, brat?"

Uh-oh. This had to be one of those moments Yanagi-senpai was always warning him about, when your actions came back to bite you in the ass. He should have paused to figure out a decent lie, but it just seemed like too much effort. Besides, Hiyoshi wouldn't believe him anyway. "I just... told her the truth," he frowned and looked away. "I'm not a brat," he said under his breath.

'I told her the truth… I told her the truth…' The sentence swam around in his head for a moment. What was the truth? That they were supposedly friends now? That they had kissed? That he had let him spend the night in his bed last night because he had a fucking nightmare? Right now, he was dearly regretting all of the above. Feeling the anger rise, Hiyoshi grounded himself in a familiar stance. Even in his unsteady state, he could at least accomplish this. He pulled his right fist back and squarely punched Kirihara in the face, hard. He felt betrayed, he felt completely and utterly betrayed. Giving one last look back at the person whom he thought was becoming someone important to him; he stiffly turned around to walk back to campus.

Kirihara hadn't even had time to react before the fist connected with his face. It sent him stumbling back and he growled. He'd expected it, but it still hurt like a bitch. He clutched at his possibly broken nose through watery eyes that were probably a light pink tint now and blood dripped out from between his fingers. "Wakashi..." He forced his feet to move him forward and he grabbed Hiyoshi's arm with his free (blood-free) hand. "Hey, don't just walk away. Look, I'm sorry alright? I just--" He fell silent, what had he been about to say? That he was just trying to protect him?

Hiyoshi had a pounding headache. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't even want to look at him. His chest hurt. He just wanted to go home and not think about the consequences of what just happened. 'This is what happens when you trust too easily,' he reminded himself. 'This is why you only keep Choutarou and Gakuto around; at least you know what you can expect from them.' He kept walking.

"Wakashi!" A couple tears ran down Akaya's face. Nose injuries hurt a lot. "Please just listen to me, I didn't want to make you mad! I was trying to help!" He hurried after Hiyoshi, his words coming out a bit stuffy sounding from plugging his nose. "I'm sorry, please don't go..." He got in front of him and forced him to stop. "Please?" He gave him a pleading look. He hated having people mad at him, unless it was because of a tennis game he won. He could handle that and hell, he thrived on it. But mad at him because he messed up? He hated it. Especially when it was someone he saw as a friend.

Hiyoshi wasn't going to put up with this. Kirihara apologizing? It was more likely it was just one of his attempts to make him feel guilty again and forgive him. He let Kirihara stop him, but refused to look at him; afraid he would hit the brat again if he saw his face. "Do you have any idea what you might have just done? I could be disowned you idiot!" He clenched his fist. "Do you think I wanted to go out with her? Do you think I wanted to be engaged to a 'spoiled rich girl' as you liked to call her? Of course not! All I want is to inherit my family's dojo, and if marrying Keiko is what I need to do to achieve that, then I don't give a fuck!"

Well, Hiyoshi knew exactly how to make Akaya feel like an ass. "I--" He dropped his head and stared at his feet then kicked at the ground a bit. "I'm sorry, Wakashi... I-I didn't mean to--...I--I'll find her and tell her I was lying..." He didn't even know where to start looking, but he'd do what he had to. He felt like it was Sanada standing in front of him, scolding him, instead of Hiyoshi. His fists shook at his side in nervousness and he could feel his jaw clench reflexively, waiting for the impact of the back of a hand. This wasn't something he could remedy with extra training though, and that scared him.

Kirihara actually sounded sincere in his apologies. Taking a chance, Hiyoshi finally looked up at him. At the sight of that bloodied, teary face, he could feel his fury fading. First rule as a martial artist: never strike in anger. Self mockingly he wondered if maybe he didn't deserve to inherit the dojo anyway. Silently, he lifted a hand to the other boy's face and gently inspected where he had hit him. He wasn't ready to forgive him, but… "Let's get you cleaned up." Taking hold of his arm, he began to lead them both away, letting some of his own weight fall on the other boy since he still felt a little dizzy.

Akaya blinked in surprise and stared at Hiyoshi. One hand dripped blood, and blood flowed from his nose freely still. He didn't dare speak though, in case he changed Hiyoshi's mind somehow. He just nodded and wrapped his not bloody arm around the others waist, supporting more of his weight. Hopefully the action didn't get him thrown onto the pavement or end with him breaking a rib or something.

They made their way slowly and silently back to campus. It was dark out and there weren't many people around, but there were still a few people who stopped to look at them. If Hiyoshi were in a better mood he might have found humor in the thought that they probably both looked like they just got out of a bar brawl. "Which dorm are you in?" He'd never been to Kirihara's room before, it always having been the case that Kirihara came to him when he felt like it.

"Ao," Akaya said quietly, still hesitant to talk much. "Number 88..." He nodded in the direction of his dorm and wiped at the stream of blood coming from his nose with the back of his hand. He wiped it on his jeans; they were black so it wouldn't show anyway. One guy they passed laughed at him and he fixed him with an angry glare that shut him up immediately. He did NOT like being laughed at by people that he didn't know.

It was kind of funny how even with a bloody nose and teary eyes, Kirihara still managed to intimidate people around them. Honestly, he had always found Kirihara's glare to be more amusing then anything, more like a pout in some cases. No, the only time he really needed to watch out (he'd learned from personal experience) was when his eyes starting turning weird colors. Finally arriving at the door, Hiyoshi waited for Akaya to open it. Unlike some people, he did not just walk into other people's rooms without permission.

Fishing his keys out of his pocket, Akaya unlocked the door and opened it. "Come on in..." He forced a little laugh and led them into his room. It was very similar to Hiyoshi's, but his had a lot more porn stashed away. It looked a lot emptier now that the dorm staff had taken away the stripper poll. Stupid room checks. He kicked off his shoes and walked over to his dresser, pushed some of the magazines out of the way, and pulled out his first aid kit. He felt gingerly at his nose and sighed. It was definitely broken, but it didn't seem to be too bad. "I'm gonna have to set it..." He mumbled, at least this wasn't the first time he'd done this.

Hiyoshi tried not to make a satisfied smirk as he watched Kirihara tend to his nose, which he knew to be broken. He may feel guilty that he had punched him in the first place, but didn't feel sorry at all about his nose. The room was a bit messy but not terrible. Standing in the middle of it, not sure where to go, he offered, "Do you want any help with that?" He had asked out of courtesy even though it looked like Kirihara knew what he was doing.

"No, it's alright." Akaya took a deep breath and set it with a sickening crack. "Ow…" he muttered as he put some medical tape across it to keep it in place. "You have a damn good punch." He got out a wet wipe and started wiping up the blood.

"Che. I know." But Hiyoshi didn't know what he was supposed to do now. Just standing there, watching Kirihara clean himself up from an injury he had inflicted, was awkward. "I'm heading out then since you don't need me here." He turned to let himself out. It was getting late and Kirihara probably didn't even want him there.

"Hey..." Akaya said quietly and looked at Hiyoshi with a little frown. "Um... I--" He scratched at the back of his head and stared at a spot on the floor. "About earlier... I'm sorry... I'll uh... I'll walk you over to your room... How much did you drink anyway?"

"Not enough that I can't get to my own room." Hiyoshi countered roughly. "I can get there just fine on my own." He didn't want Kirihara thinking he couldn't take care of himself. Besides, it was probably for the best that they separated, maybe for good. The thought made his chest hurt again, but he quickly shoved it to the back of his mind. He was used to separating himself from his emotions.

"Oh... Uh... Ok... Then, um..." The still bloodied and messy boy looked up at Hiyoshi. His forced smile faded away to a frown, but then it was quickly forced back into a pained smile. He'd messed up bad and he knew it. He wasn't used to people being this mad at him because of his behavior off court. Generally he just got stern looks or laps, but being treated so coldly was new and scary. "I'll uh... I'll see you later?" Akaya's eyes filled with a tiny gleam of hope that maybe, just maybe, Hiyoshi would be able to forgive him and that they could go back to their odd dysfunctional little friendship that he really valued. He hadn't even noticed it until now, that he did really like hanging out with Hiyoshi. Even though it almost always ended in him getting put into a hold of some sort, or getting thrown off some piece of furniture.

How was he supposed to reply to that? Hiyoshi wasn't used to Kirihara looking so depressed, and his fake expressions were almost as bad as Choutarou's. He hated it when someone looked at him like that. When Choutarou did it, he couldn't leave him alone, but with Kirihara… Sighing, he sat down on the desk chair and put his head in his hands. "What do you want from me?" He really didn't know. They weren't friends like him and Choutarou who supported and trusted each other, and he wasn't a friend like Gakuto who he couldn't get rid of and then eventually became a sort of annoying senpai figure. He had originally thought Kirihara had just come on to him as some sort of stupid dare maybe Gakuto had put him up to, but then he had never forced anything serious on him. The brat kept coming around to bother him probably just to amuse himself. So why now did he seem to care so much?

"Eh?" Kirihara's smile dropped and his expression changed to one of confusion. "What do I want from you?" He sat on the floor right where he'd been standing. "What do you mean?" He looked like a kindergarten student who was getting a lesson on not putting glue in the girl's hair. His eyes were wide and curious and his lips formed a little frown. Was he asking if he just wanted him for sex or something? Well that was ridiculous. Despite Akaya's best efforts, he wasn't getting any sex out of this. So that left Hiyoshi wondering what he was getting? Did he have to be getting anything? Hiyoshi was his friend. He thought the other boy knew that and understood, but maybe he was wrong?

Hiyoshi hadn't thought it was a difficult question; he just wanted the truth as Kirihara had so willingly given Keiko-san that evening. "Why do you keep showing up at my door? Am I some kind of stupid dare someone put you up to? Why do you act like my friend one minute and the next either kiss me or embarrass the hell out of me? Why do you..." As he was talking his voice was slowly getting quieter until he was just mumbling to himself. "Akaya… please, just leave me alone if this is all just some big joke to you."

Oh, so that's what he meant. "If you want me to, I'll leave you alone... but... you're fun and I like coming over... Yanagi-senpai said that no one besides my team would be able to put up with my 'antics' for very long... but you do..." Akaya laughed, but it came out as a bit forced. He wasn't used to saying things that were so emotional to anyone that wasn't his team and it was embarrassing. "So... it's not a joke or anything... no one dared me to hang out with you or nothing, I just wanted to..."

Hiyoshi had gotten his answer. He had a lot to think about and he couldn't stay there any longer. "I'm going home." His head was pounding and he needed to sleep so he could think clearly again and decide what to do about this mess. He stood shakily from the chair and made his way to the front door. He'd barely had any sleep the previous night because of Kirihara's unexpected sleepover, and then he had spent a tiring day at classes and with Keiko-san, then, to have been put in a crowded room and drink more than he usually did in a month. It was time to go home.

"Oh, alright... Um..." Kirihara stood up and followed Hiyoshi as far as the door; keeping an eye on Hiyoshi's shaky form. "Be uh... Be careful going back," he mumbled and bit his lip. It was Hiyoshi, of course he could take care of himself, but for some reason he was still uneasy about him going alone.

Waving his arm tiredly behind him in a silent goodbye, without looking back, Hiyoshi slowly started his trek down the hallway to leave the building.

Waiting until Hiyoshi was down the hall and in the stairwell, Akaya followed him out at a discreet distance. He wasn't the best at being sneaky, but he knew he wouldn't sleep if he didn't make sure Hiyoshi got back ok, though he probably wouldn't sleep anyway. Maybe he'd go over to Sanada's room, his senpai wouldn't turn him away. If he couldn't sleep, he could just call Yanagi-senpai and ask him to tell him about physics or something. Listening to Yanagi lecture was better than any lullaby.

Words could not begin to describe how relieved Hiyoshi felt when he finally made it back to his own room. Unlocking the door, he let himself in wearily. But when he turned to close the door and lock it, he paused. In the past he'd always been particular about keeping his door locked, but lately… since Kirihara had first barged into his room, he had unconsciously (or maybe consciously, he chose not to think about it) been leaving it unlocked. He must have stood there with the door open, staring at the door knob for five minutes. 'This is ridiculous' he scolded himself. Slamming the door, for once not caring about disturbing his neighbors, he went in and all but collapsed onto the futon. He was sound asleep within seconds.


	7. Chapter 7

Hiyoshi had been a mess. Worried about the eminent condemning call from his father, trying not to think about Kirihara’s betrayal, and knowing that whatever kind of friendship they had built was completely lost now. But after having gone almost three days hardly eating or sleeping and barely leaving his room, Hiyoshi had been forced back into the world of the living by Choutarou, who’d gently talked him out of his rather pathetic state.

Then, the odd and somewhat disturbing run-in with the three Rikkai demons took place. They had originally come to support/avenge their kohai with a broken nose, and instead had ended up literally threatening him back to life. But the demon, who had been way beyond confusing, was Sanada-san.

It seemed to Hiyoshi that Sanada-san had only come to intimidate and threaten, but not three hours later he’d been back to make sure he’d started eating properly. He certainly didn’t want to get on the man’s bad side again, so… he’d let the man take him out to lunch. In the end, Sanada-san volunteered to be his new martial arts training partner in Kendo. Looking back on it; it had to be one of the most embarrassing times in his life.

Lying on the grass next to the lake, his favorite spot on campus, it felt good to be outside. It was cloudy and chilly, but for once, the feel of cold breeze on Hiyoshi’s skin felt nice. It looked like it might even rain, which explained why no one else was around.

Akaya kicked at a rock on the pathway, his hands shoved in his pockets. It was the first time since Friday night that he'd been out and about. His talk the night before with Sanada had helped him to sort out things a bit more in his head and get out his frustrations. He felt a lot more level headed and ready to face anything.

He'd gone on a walk around the lake and was just nearing the end of it when he came face to face with the one thing he wasn't ready to handle, Hiyoshi. He considered turning around and walking away, but before he could stop it, he was already walking toward the other boy.

Hiyoshi had been attempting to clear his thoughts, relax and let his mind and body recuperate, when he heard someone approaching. Annoyed, he turned towards the person to see if they were planning to bother him. He froze when he saw it was the very person he couldn’t stop thinking about for the last three days. He felt conflicted. What should he say? Should he just ignore him? He had… missed him. He had told the brat’s over-protective sempai-tachi that he would apologize and then not get close to him anymore. Watching him, he just waited to see what Kirihara would do.

"Oh uh... I'll--uh--I'll go..." Akaya mumbled and turned around, reaching up to touch his nose carefully. Sanada had said that the other boy didn't hate him, but the almost annoyed look on Hiyoshi’s face told him otherwise. "I'm sorry to bother you..." He started back the way he had come slowly, not caring that it was the long way.

Hiyoshi had been trying not to look at Kirihara’s broken nose; feeling the guilt swarm to his chest. He winced at the other boy’s awkward retreat. Automatically, he sat up and yelled out, “Wait! Aka-uh… Kirihara… shit. Stupid brat, come back here!”

The seaweed headed boy stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn back to face Hiyoshi. "I'm not a brat," he snapped but didn't walk away, despite every nerve in his body screaming at him to leave. After everything, his senpai were wrong. Hiyoshi did hate him and couldn't even call him by his name.

Damn it. Hiyoshi hadn’t meant that to come out the way it did. He was supposed to be apologizing. Standing up, he hesitantly walked over to where Akaya had his back facing him. He reached up to lightly touch the base of Kirihara’s neck as he always did, but then moved to his shoulder instead and guided him to turn around so they were facing each other.

Hiyoshi didn’t like seeing the brat like this. Finally forcing himself to look at the damage he’d done, he gently outlined the other boy’s broken nose with his hand whispering a soft “sorry” as he did so. Realizing what he was doing was not normal, he quickly retracted his hand. “I-sorry… You don’t-I mean… shit.” He crossed his arms and glared to the side for a moment. This was really embarrassing!

Akaya let himself be turned around and kept a rather cold emotionless look on his face until Hiyoshi’s fingers touched his nose. His eyes went wide and the blood was pounding so hard in his ears that he barely heard Hiyoshi’s quiet apology. The quiet word just made him blush harder and made his head spin in confusion, wasn't he the one who was supposed to be apologizing? Finally, as Hiyoshi pouted, he smiled a little and reached out to pull the other man against him in a hug.

The hug was completely unexpected, but Hiyoshi supposed most things that involved the brat were. He could feel the tension in his body finally leaving him as he let himself relax in Akaya’s arms for a moment. If he thought he had felt better earlier, now it was like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. Pulling out of the mini-demon’s arms with an obvious blush on his face, Hiyoshi sat back down on the grass, tugging Kirihara down to sit next to him. He gave him a small but sincere smile. He rarely did that, the expression almost a foreign thing to Hiyoshi, but he knew that Akaya probably needed reassurance the same way he did.

It was surprising to be tugged down to the ground, but Akaya didn't complain. The smile and blush on the other’s face drew a smile from him as well and suddenly everything felt better. His chest didn't ache anymore and neither did his nose, at least until he practically jumped onto Hiyoshi’s lap so he was straddling him, then it just stung a little.

“Oof!” Knocked back onto his forearms, Hiyoshi tried not to laugh out loud at the sudden attack. Was this the same person that he had been worrying all weekend about? “You know, I just told your crazy protective senpai-tachi that I would keep my distance from you, and you’re not helping. Did you sick them on me to get revenge or something?” He asked with a teasing smirk on his lips. Though, they had actually been rather… scary, and he preferred not to get on their bad side again.

"Eh?" Akaya blinked as he wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s shoulders. "My senpai-tachi?" He cocked his head to the side as he thought about who it could have been, "You mean Yanagi-senpai, buchou, and fukubuchou? I didn't send them after you, why would I?"

Normally, by this time, Hiyoshi would have been pushing the other boy off of him, but right now it just felt too good to have him close again. He let himself collapse the rest of the way down onto the grass and brought his hand up to tangle in Akaya’s curls, letting the familiar feeling wash over him. He answered back sarcastically. “I don’t know. Maybe because I broke their precious kohai’s nose? Heh, Yanagi-san can be damn creepy when he wants to be, I think Sanada-san may have saved me a trip to the hospital, and your Buchou looked like he was gonna eat me alive with his smile.”

Akaya let his head fall forward and closed his eyes as Hiyoshi’s hand found its way into his hair. He chuckled. "Yeah, it's not a good idea to make them mad. They all have anger issues," said the part-demon boy. "Buchou is the worst," he whispered as if the blunette could hear him from wherever he was, "but how did Fukubuchou save you from going to the hospital?"

Akaya was so warm on top of him. “I hadn’t been eating, so he lectured me for mal-nutrition and later took me out to lunch.” Shit! His eyes flew open and his hand stopped brushing through Akaya’s hair. He hadn’t meant to tell him that. In fact, he planned on never telling anyone how pathetic he’d been acting, ever.

"Why hadn't you been eating?" Akaya opened his eyes to stare in shock at Hiyoshi. "He was right to lecture you! You can't not eat!! Idiot!" He scolded with a deep frown, "Don't ever do that again."

“Yeah, yeah…” Hiyoshi grumbled. “I already got the lecture, remember?” He was NOT about to tell Kirihara that he was the reason he’d been depressed. “Anyway, isn’t it about time you got off me? I don’t want the over-protective trio to come after me again.” He smirked up at him.

"Yeah, well you better listen to it," Akaya replied stubbornly then leaned down so he was lying on top of Hiyoshi, instead of just sitting on him. "They won't come after you. They're all really nice you know." He grinned. "They're good senpai."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Sure, I’ll remember that.” ‘Until they come murder me in my sleep…’ He had enough problems with just the one chibi demon; he didn’t need the whole family haunting him. “So, Kirihara-san, are you going to get off me or not?”

"Don't call me that," the supposed chibi demon grumbled and nuzzled Hiyoshi’s neck. "My name is Akaya." He kissed the pale skin lightly with a devilish grin.

Hiyoshi chuckled, and tried to repress the small shiver that ran up his spine at the feel of Akaya’s soft lips against his neck. “Heh. I still think I prefer brat, or how about chibi demon brat? Maybe one of these days you’ll grow up to be big and scary like your demon senpai’s.”

Akaya glared at him, and then got an evil idea. He pinned down Hiyoshi’s arms then latched his lips onto the base of his neck and started sucking firmly. He only pulled away when he was sure there would be a decent sized mark, served him right.

Hiyoshi’s eyes bugged out. “Jeez brat, what are you, a vampire?” He tried to struggle but Kirihara’s grip was strong, and his body was still too weak to put up a decent fight. Okay, now he had a decent reason not to let himself go that long again without eating.

"There," Akaya said with a giant grin as he sat back to look over his work. "Heh, heh. Have fun explaining that one, mushroom head." He snickered to himself. That'd teach Hiyoshi not to compare him to his senpai like that.

Hiyoshi gave him a confused look. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing to explain. You’re the one who attacked me!”

"Dumbass," Akaya laughed and propped himself up on his elbows, one on either side of Hiyoshi’s head. "I gave you a hickey, a pretty good one too. That's what you're going to end up having to explain."

“WHAT!?” Hiyoshi’s hand immediately went to where the hickey supposedly was. Glaring, he brought his other hand up to tighten in Kirihara’s hair, and tugged. “Akaya…” he growled, “you tell anyone about this and I will make you regret it.”

"How do you plan on doing that?" Akaya purred slyly and licked at Hiyoshi’s lips with a devilish smile. He was quite proud of himself.

Stupid traitorous body. Hiyoshi had to hold back another shudder and force himself not to react to the action over his lips. “I’ll…” What wouldn’t get him killed? “I’ll never give you a massage, ever again,” he whispered back.

"I don't believe you," Akaya mumbled and kissed the mark he'd left before pressing his lips against Hiyoshi’s in a gentle chaste kiss.

Hiyoshi just laid there and his lips turned up in a small smile as he let himself be kissed, for once just enjoying the feel of the other’s lips against his. He didn’t encourage it, nor did he try to push him away. What was the point? The other boy must know by now that he wasn’t completely against it, and he didn’t have a fiancé anymore that he’d be cheating on. He could feel light drops of rain start to fall on him where Akaya wasn’t covering him.

The rain got heavier and started to soak through his shirt, but Akaya didn't pull away. Instead, he pressed himself closer to the other man, licking at his lips gently as he tried to deepen the kiss and protect his mushroom from the rain at the same time. Hiyoshi not pushing him away or yelling at him was all the encouragement he needed.

Without protest, at Akaya’s silent request, Hiyoshi opened his mouth slightly to let the other in. Still not participating, he shivered as he felt the other boy’s tongue move expertly over his own. His heart was beating faster and his breathing was turning heavy, the rain only making it all seem more surreal as he let a low noise escape from the back of his throat. Grabbing at the back of Akaya’s hair, he gently pulled him way so he could whisper against his lips, “Shouldn’t we get out of the rain?”

As Akaya got pulled away, he stared at Hiyoshi with slightly glazed eyes while he tried to calm his breathing and his faster heart beat. "Why?" he mumbled quietly and braced his weight on one arm so he could reach up and run a hand though the other mans hair to fix its slightly mussed look. "It feels good."

Hiyoshi couldn’t help but keep the small smile on his face. “We’re going to get sick if we stay out here.” He quickly leaned up and gently kissed the bridge of Kirihara’s nose gently and teasingly, before turning red and making them both stand. “Besides, we both have class soon and we can’t go sopping wet.”

"I'm not going today," Akaya mumbled and rubbed at his nose gently, it still throbbed lightly and too much pressure made it hurt, but the kiss had actually felt good. "But yeah... I guess we should go inside so you don't get sick." He had the immune system of low level god and almost never got sick so he wasn't particularly worried about it.

“Why aren’t you going to class today?” Hiyoshi asked curiously as he started to make his way back toward the campus and dorms. He could see other students running into buildings and under shelters to get out of the rain. He was already pretty soaked though so didn’t see much point to it.

"Don't want to," Akaya laced his fingers behind his head and looked up with his eyes half closed, enjoying the feel of the rain on his skin. "I like to play video games when it's raining," he grinned happily and turned his attention back to Hiyoshi. "You wanna come play with me?"

“That’s no reason, and I do have to go to class whether I want to or not.” Hiyoshi held himself back from lecturing about being a good student. “But… it’s only an hour class, so I can… meet you after?” It came out awkwardly since he still wasn’t sure what was okay between them. “We can get something to eat, or I can bring something back…”

"Bring something back and we'll have a blast." Akaya laughed and grinned happily. "I'll be in my room." He reached up and messed up Hiyoshi’s hair before running off toward the dorms, a new sprint in his step. He headed straight for his room; feeling like a big weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't slept well, if at all, since the night at the bar. And now that the weight was gone, he could feel the effects. As soon as he reached his destination, his exhausted body collapsed onto his bed and he fell into a deep sleep with his door still cracked open.

After finishing class an hour and a half later, Hiyoshi had gone to the nearest convenient store and picked up a few food items. Kirihara wasn’t a picky eater and he was getting it for free, so he better not complain. It was strange thinking that just this morning Hiyoshi thought he wouldn’t be seeing the brat anymore, and now he was on his way to his room with lunch.

He was still hesitant about this. He had finally accepted the fact that he liked the brat (for reasons he couldn’t fathom), and especially during their earlier encounter realized that the feeling wasn’t something he could just stop. But the truth still held that he didn’t want to be caught in a one sided… anything again. So, for now, he would just deal with whatever happened and try not to let himself get overly emotionally involved. If there was one thing he was good at, it was shoving his feelings aside.

By the time he arrived at Kirihara’s door, Hiyoshi was almost soaked again. It was really pouring outside. He knocked once and the door opened. Figuring it must not have been closed all the way; he peered in and saw Akaya asleep on his bed. What was he supposed to do now? He didn’t want to go back out into the rain so he let himself in. The brat had done it to him enough times that he didn’t need to feel bad about it.

After putting all of his stuff down, Hiyoshi knelt down next to the bed and contemplated what to do. The brat actually looked deceivingly cute while out cold, certainly less annoying when quiet, but… also less amusing. Bringing his hand up, he let it comb through Akaya’s still damp hair. “Akaya…” He gently tried to coax him awake. “Are you planning on sleeping for the rest of the afternoon, brat?”

"Hn..." Akaya rolled over with a little groan and nuzzled Hiyoshi’s hand. His hand patted the bed next to him and he mumbled. "Nn... Come back to bed..." he muttered tiredly.

Come back to bed? Hiyoshi stared at the blissfully asleep brat, wondering if maybe he had missed something. He had told him to come, right? Continuing to pet his hair and bringing his face down right next to the other boy’s, he asked, “Akaya… Who are you talking to?” He was tempted to toss him off the bed, but managed to restrain himself. He’d already done enough damage to the boy for one week.

"Hmm....." Akaya smiled in his sleep and pulled the other man into a kiss. When he pulled away, he licked at his lips and smiled. "Mmm... tastes good..." He opened his eyes and blinked them slowly. "Wakashi... Hey... hmm... Come back to bed..." He closed his eyes again and patted the bed again.

Hiyoshi made a little surprised sound at the unexpected kiss and then blushed hard at what Kirihara said. The brat had been dreaming about him? He slowly got on the bed, figuring it didn’t matter that his clothes were still wet since Akaya’s were, too. His arm lightly held Kirihara around the waist. “You know, if we stay like this, the food is going to get cold.”

"Hmm, food?" Akaya opened his eyes again and found himself staring straight into Hiyoshi’s. "You brought food?" he mumbled and kissed him again lightly. "What kinda food?"

Rolling his eyes Hiyoshi answered, “I told you I would. I brought Nikku-man and Pizza-man, and some Cha-han onigiri from the convenient store. Take your pick.”

"Mmm... Those sound good," the sleepy boy mumbled and sat up, running a hand through his hair with a yawn. He looked down, confused that he was still wearing all of his clothes. "Oh... I forgot to change..." he mumbled and then looked at Hiyoshi’s clothes that were a lot more wet than his own. "What were you doing out there? Swimming?" He snickered and got up to dig through one of his dresser drawers. He pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and threw them at Hiyoshi. "Put those on."

“Felt like it,” Hiyoshi grumbled under his breath as he reluctantly got up from the bed and caught the clothes Akaya tossed at him. “Thanks.” They looked like they would fit alright so he went to a corner of the room and faced the wall change.

Akaya chuckled and stared at Hiyoshi’s back as he changed. "You insecure about your looks or something?" He crossed his arms and leaned against the dresser, completely forgetting to get out some clothes for himself. It definitely wasn't a bad view.

Hiyoshi gave a soft snort. “No, I just happen to possess a trait called modesty. You might look into it.” After he finished pulling the dry pajama pants on, shirt in hand, he turned around and looked at Kirihara with a raised eyebrow. “You planning on changing too, or do you enjoy walking around with damp clothes on?”

"I was just enjoying the scenery," Akaya said with a grin then decided to go ahead and look through the dresser drawer. Finding a pair of old jean shorts and a t-shirt that he liked, he pulled off his own shirt and pants without trying to hide it at all.

Trying hard to ignore Kirihara’s blatant display without embarrassing himself, Hiyoshi put on the shirt then walked over to retrieve his bag of food. “I wasn’t sure which you’d want so I got both of what they had. Do you have a preference?” He sat on the floor and started taking out the contents.

Akaya laughed and pulled his shorts on over his boxers before pulling his shirt on and sitting down next to the other boy. "Niku-man is good." He grinned happily and held out his hand, waiting for the food.

Smirking, Hiyoshi took out the niku-man and unwrapped it, but then held it out of Kirihara’s reach. “What do you say, brat?”

Akaya glared at him and tried to grab it, but missed and frowned. "Please," he mumbled quietly.

Hiyoshi ruffled Kirihara’s head with his free hand like one would a small child before handing the niku-man over. He then reached for his pizza-man and cha-han. Leaning back against the bed as a support, he quietly and contentedly started to eat his lunch.

Akaya smiled again as soon as the food hit his hand and he immediately dug in. "This is great!" he said happily and watched Hiyoshi eat.

Akaya watching him while he ate was a little unsettling. “What’s so interesting? You can have some of mine if you want.” He broke off a piece of his pizza-man and held it out to him.

"Nothing," Akaya said with a grin and took the little piece and popped it into his mouth. "Mm... The niku one is better." He took another bite of the niku-man and swallowed it before leaning over and kissing Hiyoshi and licking at the others lips. When he pulled away he grinned slyl., "See? It tastes better."

Hiyoshi wasn’t sure if he should be disgusted or amused. He pulled Kirihara’s wrist that held the niku-man toward him and took a bite. “You’re right. I like the niku-man better.” He lay back and started un-wrapping a cha-han onigiri

Akaya looked down at the onigiri curiously and opened his mouth with a quiet "Ahhhhh" obviously waiting for Hiyoshi to feed him.

It took a lot of effort for Hiyoshi to stop himself from laughing out loud. Akaya looked ridiculous sitting there with his mouth hanging open. “I think you have a problem with your jaw, brat. It doesn’t seem to be working.” He took another bite of his rice ball.

"Hey!" Akaya pouted and instead leaned forward and took a bite of the rice ball when Hiyoshi was about to take another bite. "It works just fine," he mumbled with a little grin and licked at a piece of rice that had stuck to his lip.

“You know I got you your own.” The brat was just too annoyingly cute when he pouted like that. Hiyoshi handed him the other rice ball. “Although you owe me a bite of that now,” he added as he finished his own lunch.

"No way, it's all mine." Akaya started munching on the rice ball happily. He loved to eat, especially with friends. "So you know what we should do? We should play some videos games."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes at the suggestion. “Why should we do that? Do you have a Nintendo 64?” Kirihara should have already known from their experience together at the game center that he didn’t play many games, and didn’t know any of the new systems.

"Yeah, but N64's are old, we could play gundam on the xbox or something," Akaya said, going over to his little tower of game consoles next to the TV. He had every console ever made and games to go with every one. He looked back over his shoulder at Hiyoshi with a childish grin.

“You know I don’t know how to play any of those.” Still, Hiyoshi figured he’d indulge him since he had nothing better to do. He looked at his large game collection. “Jeez, brat, you think you have enough games? It’s a wonder you have enough time for anything else.” He shook his head but scooted closer to the TV. “Whatever you want is fine, but you’ll have to show me how to use the controller.”

"Well, what do you know how to play?" Akaya asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked up at all of the games.

Hiyoshi glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest. “Idiot, I just said I don’t know any of them. I’m not going to say it again.” He did not like it when someone shoved the fact that he didn’t know how to do something in his face. “I don’t care what we play.”

Rolling his eyes, Kirihara ran his finger over the covers of the boxes and cartridges. "Fine, how about..." he paused on a cartridge and pulled it out. “This?" He held it up, displaying the 'Super Nintendo Mario Kart' label. “This one okay?"

“Sure, we can try that... Or I could just watch you play something if you want.” Hiyoshi was irritated; he’d never seen that version before. He didn’t particularly mind watching others play; he used to watch Gakuto play video games when he got bored. "Why don't you show me something you enjoy playing?"

"If you're sure..." Akaya mumbled and put the game back before looking at the shelves again. He paused over a case and popped a disk out. "This game is pretty awesome," he grinned and dropped it into the tray on the wii. "It's Resident Evil 4." He flopped down on his bed with the wii-mote and an expectant look to Hiyoshi.

Hiyoshi smirked. “Resident Evil? Sounds like it suits you.” He didn’t care much what the game was. He got up and sat on the bed next to Akaya who was holding a funny looking white plastic stick.

"Shut up." Akaya glared half-heartedly at the other man and then turned his attention back to the screen as he selected the game from the menu. "This game is great. It's about the t-virus. It makes people turn into Zombies. Oh, and they have chainsaws and axes and stuff."

Sounded interesting enough. Hiyoshi had nothing against blood and violence; even if it seemed a bit overkill at times. With his back against the wall, and from his position on the bed, he had a great side view of Akaya’s face. Kirihara got really into the game, swinging the stick around like a lunatic and sometimes even jumping off the bed and then sitting back down. He wasn’t sure how that worked exactly, but figured he could ask later if he was still curious. He didn’t know how long he sat there for, but he was easily able to zone out and let his mind and body relax while he watched Akaya’s humorous display. The last few days had been hard on him, and with his brain finally shutting off, he slowly started to doze off.

Akaya got to a save spot and set the controller down to roll and stretch his wrist. He looked over at Hiyoshi with a big grin. "See isn't it...” he dropped off and closed his mouth. Asleep, huh? The normal gruff expression was gone and for once was replaced with a peaceful one. It was cute. Before he realized it, Akaya was leaning forward and kissing him.

Mumbling incoherently in his sleep, Hiyoshi smiled softly when warmth encompassed him. Leaning hazily towards it, he made a little sound, halfway between a sigh and a groan.

Akaya smiled into the kiss when he felt Hiyoshi’s lips move under his own to form a smile. Sometimes he forgot it was possible for the mushroom-head to do that. Grudgingly though, he pulled away and just watched the other sleep for a little while. He wasn't pervy enough to molest a guy while he was sleeping.

Half tempted to wake him up, Akaya decided against it and instead pulled a blanket over the other man then laid his head in his lap. It didn't take long for his eyelids to get heavy and leave him to join Hiyoshi in sleep.

\---

A few hours later, Hiyoshi’s upper body was cold and uncomfortable. His neck hurt from falling asleep sitting up with his head bent to the side. He looked down to see Akaya asleep on his lap and reasoned that’s why he had no feeling in his legs. Unfortunately, the brat was heavier than he looked, and he didn’t have good leverage in his current sitting position. With both arms around the other boy, he carefully tried to move Akaya’s head off his lap and scoot him toward the pillow at the end of the bed.

Akaya groaned and opened his eyes as he felt himself being moved. "Wakashi..." he whined and glared at the other man, "What are you doing?"

Hiyoshi returned Akaya’s glare. “Making myself more comfortable.” Seeing that Akaya was at least somewhat awake, he stopped trying to move him and instead let his tired body collapse fully onto the bed. He could hear the rain still coming down hard outside from Akaya’s window and felt no inclination whatsoever to go back out into it. Taking the blanket that Akaya had placed over him earlier that must have fallen off, he faced the wall and ignored the other boy, intending to go back to sleep.

"Man..." Akaya yawned and moved up to snuggle against Hiyoshi’s back. "Now I'm awake..." He grumbled and kissed the back of Hiyoshi’s neck.

“You’re still half asleep, brat, now get off me and go back to sleep.” Hiyoshi was still really tired. He wanted to fall back asleep, not become Akaya’s cuddle toy, even if being Akaya’s cuddle toy felt kind of nice.

"'m not," Akaya murmured and kissed the other’s neck again. "See? 'm wide awake," he smiled and tightened his arms around the other’s waist.

Hiyoshi was tempted to pout, but instead, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the wall, sulking. Sulking, he decided, was much manlier than pouting. He half-heartedly struggled in the other boy’s grasp, determined not to lose any more of his dignity for one day. “If you’re so awake, then go be awake somewhere else.”

"It's my bed," Akaya replied with a bit of a laugh, "I don't have to go anywhere." He licked the back of Hiyoshi’s neck and grinned from ear to ear, "and it's raining too hard for you to go anywhere."

Sighing, Hiyoshi gave up on going back to sleep. He was pressed against Akaya’s well muscled chest and wrapped up in his arms. It felt ... nice. However, he wasn’t about to just lay there and let the brat do whatever he wanted. He didn’t want to hurt him since he was still painfully aware of the broken nose, but… “Quit bothering me, or I’ll…” He swiftly turned his body around in Akaya’s hold, pushing him underneath him in the process and held his hands above his head.

"You'll what?" Akaya said silkily, not at all surprised that he had ended up in the other boy’s hold. He looked up at Hiyoshi with a sly smile and barely resisted the urge to roll his hips up against him. ‘Kinky...’ he thought in amusement.

Hiyoshi held back from rolling his eyes, but could not hold back a mirrored sly grin. “This.” and he began mercilessly tickling Akaya’s sides.

Akaya’s eyes went wide with surprise before he started squirming around violently, laughing like a little kid. "S-s-stop! Ahaha! Waka-shi!! Leggo!!"

“No.” Hiyoshi answered simply. “This is what happens when you deprive me of my sleep.” He was enjoying himself; having not been in a tickle fight since way before his older brother had moved away from home. Getting to watch Akaya squirm was an added bonus. Laughing softly at the picture he made, Hiyoshi let go of Akaya’s hands so he could attack both his sides at once.

Between gasps, Akaya giggled out, "You suck!" and tried to squirm away as soon as his hands were released. Once he had the chance he started tickling Hiyoshi’s back.

Not expecting the sudden counter attack, Hiyoshi let out an undignified “ACK!” before losing his balance and falling onto his side. He couldn’t help the laughter that poured out as he tried to struggle out of Akaya’s grip, and while still trying to tickle him back. “Akaya! Wait! Ahaha! Enough!”

"No way!" Akaya laughed along with Hiyoshi and continued tickling until his sides ached from laughing too hard. Finally, the fingers stopped and he tried to calm his laughing. "I can't breathe--" he said between gasps and giggles.

Hiyoshi had been afraid he was going to pass out from lack of air before Kirihara finally stopped his assault. “Serves you right!” He gasped out between breaths, and then punched the other boy in the arm. Not enough to hurt, but enough to definitely feel it.

"Ow," Akaya whined between laughs and closed his eyes. "Jerk," he said with a giant grin and punched Hiyoshi back.

“Baby,” Hiyoshi countered back, punching his arm again, a little harder than the last time.

"Fungus," Akaya copied him, hitting a bit harder than Hiyoshi had.

This meant war. “Chibi,” Hiyoshi called with a large grin on his face. He tried to grab Akaya’s arms, but only managed to get one, and attempted to put him in a hold again.

"Loser," Akaya grinned and managed to keep his other arm away from Hiyoshi. Using his better physical condition to his advantage, he rolled them so he was lying over the other man.

“Idiot,” Still grinning, Hiyoshi tried to roll them over again to gain the upper hand, but in the struggle didn’t notice how close they were to the edge of the bed and they fell off in a mess of limbs. Reacting quickly, Hiyoshi twisted so that he landed on the bottom. He was going to be really mad at himself if he let Akaya’s broken nose get hurt even worse because of him.

Akaya yelped as they rolled off the bed. "Ow..." he mumbled and looked down at Hiyoshi. "W-Wakashi, you ok?" He climbed off of him and looked him over quickly.

“I’m fine.” Hiyoshi answered less than enthusiastically. He had let himself get too carried away. He looked over at Kirihara and asked, embarrassed, “You alright?”

"Yeah, I'm ok," Akaya smiled again and started laughing quietly. "That was fun." He stood and held out a hand to help Hiyoshi up.

Glad to see that Akaya was fine, with only a slight hesitation, Hiyoshi took his offered hand to help him up off the floor. Despite his efforts to hold it back, his body let out a tired yawn, and he covered his mouth with the hand that wasn’t currently still in Akaya’s. He looked out the window and saw the rain was still coming down hard, but there was no helping it. “It’s getting late. I should be going.” He pointed out as he looked around the room to see where he had left his stuff.

"You can't go out in that rain," Akaya said, keeping a firm hold on Hiyoshi’s hand. "Just stay here tonight."

Hiyoshi paused at the invitation. “I don’t know…” It’s not that he didn’t want to. The problem was that he did, maybe a little too much.

"If you go out in that, you're going to get sick. Then I'll make fukubuchou come take care of you," Akaya threatened. He'd been tended to by Sanada before. It had been an... interesting experience. He didn't know running laps could help fight off a cold.

Hiyoshi smirked at the brat’s threat. “I’m not terribly afraid of your fukubuchou coming to take care of me. Besides, you really think I’m that much of a weakling to get sick walking for five minutes in the rain?” He spotted his stuff over by the TV.

"Yeah," Akaya said with a little coy grin and refused to release the others hand. "Just stay with me tonight, come on, it's not gonna kill ya." He stepped between Hiyoshi and his stuff and looked at him with pleading puppy dog eyes he'd spent years perfecting.

It was unfair… so unfair. Hiyoshi had been using all of his self restraint to not just give in and stay, but when the brat looked at him like that, what else was he supposed to do? He looked down at their linked hands and gave a worn out sigh. “Fine, brat, you win. I’ll stay, but only for tonight.” He knew this was just asking for trouble in the long run, but right now, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

"Awesome!" Akaya grinned victoriously and pulled Hiyoshi into a quick kiss. "You ok with sleeping in just boxers?" He looked like a kid who'd just been told his best-est friend could stay the night.

What had he gotten himself into? Hiyoshi thought as Kirihara’s lips met his for the umpteenth time that day. Oh yeah, he didn’t have any extra clothes. He hadn’t thought about that. “I can just wear the pants I have on.” The one’s he was borrowing must have been older because they weren’t that uncomfortable. He tried to take his shirt off, when he noticed… “Think you can let go of my hand now?”

"Oh, sorry," Akaya mumbled and let go before pulling off his own shirt and pants. "You're really going to sleep in pants?" He looked the now shirtless Hiyoshi up and down. "You're crazy."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Whatever, brat.” He normally slept in pajama pants, but he supposed just boxers would be more comfortable. What would it hurt? At least he knew Akaya well enough now that he knew he wouldn’t try anything while he was asleep. Well, he thought so anyway. He quickly took the pants off then asked Kirihara where he should put them before climbing into the bed near the wall.

"Wherever you find a place," Akaya mumbled and waited for Hiyoshi to get into bed, then turned off the lights and crawled in after him. He pulled the smaller man against him with a big grin and closed his eyes; glad the other had decided to stay.

"Akaya…" Hiyoshi grumbled sleepily, blushing furiously as he was encompassed in a set of strong arms and pulled back against an equally strong chest. "Wait a minute! I never said you could..." His protests teetered off. What was the point of arguing? He knew it wasn’t going to do him any good. So instead he willed himself to relax, and let himself fall into the first good night’s sleep he’d had in ages.


	8. Chapter 8

Hiyoshi had been uneasy since Valentine’s Day. As much as he would have liked to blame it on the holiday and everything that went along with it, he honestly had no idea why he felt so bothered. Valentine’s Day had actually gone over fairly well, in the beginning. Akaya and An-san had made plans to go watch the fireworks show being put on by Gakuto and had insisted on dragging him along. An-san had proven to be one of the few females whose company he genuinely enjoyed, and the fireworks were very well done, as expected from Gakuto. Watching Akaya enjoy them had been equally amusing. No, things had not gone downhill till later.

After the fireworks, the three of them had gone to a bar. Past incidents had already proven that this was not an intelligent choice of location for Hiyoshi to go, but he had idiotically chosen to accompany them anyway. He had been dragged out on to the dance floor by both An-san and Akaya, and then, by both at the same time. He still couldn’t think back on it without groaning in embarrassment. He’d been literally sandwiched between the two at one point. However, he’d thought that other than the usual annoyances that came with going to a bar, things were going well. Nonetheless, by the time they left, both An-san and Akaya and had manages to become upset. And in turn, Hiyoshi had become upset, for reasons he wasn’t sure he fully understood.

So now, here he was. In front of Akaya’s room, deciding whether or not to just get this over with and knock on the door. Akaya was his friend, he reminded himself. If this were Choutarou, he would have no problem confronting him if something was bothering him. Steeling himself, Hiyoshi glared at the opposing door and knocked.

Akaya sat on the floor in front of his TV, button mashing rapidly and trying to get a K.O. as the men on the screen yelled and shot fireballs at each other. "Come on, come on, come on! You can do it Vegeta! Crush him! You can do it!! YES!!!! FINAL FLASH!!! HAHA---" His joy was cut short however by the sound of knocking behind him. "Eh?" He glanced back at the door then called, "Come in!" The fight wasn't over yet and he wasn't about to put the controller down anytime soon. He'd been in a horrible mood and had decided that there was no better way to put him in a good mood than spend some time beating the crap out of people. That damn Kakkarot, and all his little friends to be precise.

Hearing Akaya’s reply, Hiyoshi automatically rolled his eyes. He quietly opened the door, stepped inside and closed it behind him, hoping he wasn’t intruding on anything. There he was on the floor, the brat, yelling at the TV screen, obviously over indulging in some game again. His previous plan of seriously confronting him over what had been bothering him for the last few days flew right out of his head. With a smirk, he went over and sat down next to him to see what he was focusing on so intently. After a glance at the screen he raised an eyebrow in question. “Dragon Ball?”

Akaya wasn't sure who it was until he spoke, the fight having got so intense he couldn't look away, a problem he frequently had when playing on expert. For a moment he forgot why he hadn't wanted to see Hiyoshi and smiled at the screen. "Dragon Ball Z, the Z is important, it means Vegeta is in it." He liked Vegeta the best. Not only was he powerful, but he was straight to the point. He didn't let feelings (except anger) get in the way of his missions and he could completely decimate the competition. He couldn't stand Goku’s laid back happy-go-lucky attitude. This was a battle after all.

The smirk widened out into a grin. “My apologies. Dragon Ball Z.” Hiyoshi stressed the “Z” with no little amount of sarcasm in his voice. He hadn’t watched Dragon Ball or any of the spinoff continuing series since he was very young. Vegeta, huh? How ironic. The demon brat’s favorite character was the bratty prince. “I preferred Piccolo.” He admitted, not usually one to confess he’d watched such shows. As a child, he had wanted to be the kid that had been taken away from his nagging mother and then trained to be one the strongest fighters in the world. The kid had been a wuss anyway, Hiyoshi would have been much better. Piccolo was calm and focused; an essential part of the team, if under appreciated.

Akaya twitched and jumped a little as he tapped a button repeatedly, his concentration solely on the match in front of him. "Piccolo is annoying," he mumbled and growled at the screen as Goku went super saiyan. "And green."

Hiyoshi glared. “At least he wasn’t a bratty prince. Vegeta was pathetic. Piccolo had respect.” He looked back at the screen just in time to see Vegeta get hit by a special move by super saiyan Goku.

Akaya cursed and glared at the screen. "Shut up." He growled and pushed a series of buttons, sending Vegeta into super saiyan mode as well. "Time to die Kakarot!!" With a few quick motions he unleashed another super and Goku faded out of super saiyan and fell to the groun. "YES!" He dropped the controller with a big grin and fell back on the floor. "I won!"

The sight Akaya was making, getting so excited over a 2-D video game, and a Dragaon Ball Z one at that… When Hiyoshi heard him call out the saiyan name and then proclaim his victory only a few moments later, he couldn’t help himself. Laughter ripped from him involuntarily and he rolled onto his back and then to the side, only covering his mouth a moment later after he could breathe again. Still trying to stifle the remaining snickers, he asked, “Are you trying to kill me?”

"Maybe." Akaya grinned and laughed with Hiyoshi, rolling onto his side to face him. "Am I doing a good job?" It felt good to hear the other boy laugh, even if it was at his expense. Hiyoshi needed to laugh more.

“Yes.” Hiyoshi glared at him, but didn’t manage to keep the mirth from showing through on his face. “I wouldn’t be surprised if one of these days you actually managed it.” He took in the other boy’s devious smile and the way his insane seaweed hair was flung everywhere. For a moment, he could pretend that this was completely normal, and that he wasn’t fighting a losing battle with himself over his growing feelings towards the other boy.

"I do my best." Akaya laughed, but it slowly faded as he noticed the now serious look in Hiyoshi’s eyes that he wasn't even sure the other was aware of. Then the memories of Valentines Day and the reason he had locked himself in his room flooded his mind. He frowned. ‘Oh... that's right...’ He sat up and scratched the back of his head before picking up his controller and saving the game.

Hiyoshi broke out of his trance once their eye contact broke and Akaya moved away from him. Feeling self-conscious and embarrassed for being so easily distracted, he quickly got up off the floor and adjusted himself. He wasn’t good with words, never being able to find the best way to explain himself or even start a conversation. He brought his gaze back up to Akaya’s hoping the proper terminology would come to him. “Do you have any plans for this evening?” The words slipped out. He hoped he didn’t sound too anxious.

"No. That was the last fight I needed to win," Akaya mumbled. That wasn't what he'd been expecting to hear, but it was better than what he'd expected.

“Good. There’s somewhere I would like to take you.” Now that Hiyoshi had said it, he hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

That had Akaya’s attention. "Somewhere you wanna take me? Where?" He crossed his legs and turned to face Hiyoshi with a curious expression.

Hiyoshi smirked, he knew that Akaya was curious by nature, and he would use that to his advantage. “If you want to find out, I guess you’ll have to come with me.” He got up and went to the door. “It may be cold, so you might want to bring a jacket.”

"A jacket..? Okay..." Akaya walked over to his closet and dug around in a pile of clothes on the floor of it. He pulled out a sweatshirt and tugged it over his head. Then he dug around for another minute and pulled out a pair of tennis shoes and slipped them on. "Okay, I'm ready. Let’s go!" He grinned from ear to ear and bounced on the balls of his feet by the door. He wanted to know where Hiyoshi was taking him.

Hiyoshi was glad that Akaya’s mood seemed to have brightened. It, in turn, served to brighten his mood. Opening the door, he walked out into the hallway and waited for his friend to join him. He then led them out of the dorm and off campus.

The walk was a pleasant one, filled with Akaya’s amusing attempts to get him to admit where he was taking him. It wasn’t too far to where they were going; but farther than he usually went to eat. The area around the campus was filled with many different types of restaurants to choose from, but he hardly ever felt the need to explore it. The night air was cold and nippy on his skin, and even though he had worn a warm jacket, he was relieved when they finally made it to their destination.

Richoen was a very small family owned restaurant that could only seat about ten people at the max. Yet, despite its small size, it served high quality yakiniku at reasonable prices. They were also somewhat well known in the area for their cold noodles. Hiyoshi had found it on accident one day while going on an early morning jog. It was warm and homey, the old couple that owned it had been very kind and he’d promised to come back and visit again. It seemed like the perfect place to bring Akaya that was away from everything, where he could relax.

“We’re here.” Hiyoshi held open the cloth curtain that was the entrance, and gestured for Akaya to go in.

As he ducked under the curtain, Akaya’s face lit up. The little tables with grills on them gave away what the restaurant served immediately. "Awesome!" he said excitedly and glomped onto Hiyoshi as soon as he walked through the curtain.

Hiyoshi let out a small sigh of relief. Any doubt that this was a bad idea was quickly wiped away with Akaya’s cheerful exuberance. Seeing Fujiwara-san, he gave a polite bow before putting a hand on the small of Akaya’s back, gently guiding him the rest of the way into the restaurant and sat them both down at the end table. “I hope you like Yakiniku.” He said with a small smile on his lips.

Akaya happily allowed himself to be led to a table, too excited to even notice Hiyoshi’s interaction with the worker. As soon as they sat down the boy practically bounced in place. This was a lot better than playing through a game again. "I love yakiniku! It's my favorite!" He said happily, looking like a kid who'd gotten a hold of the sugar.

Hiyoshi smiled secretly into the small handwritten menu he’d just picked up. The information he’d gotten from Sanada had been correct. “Good. I found this place not too long ago and thought you might like it.” He wondered curiously what else he could get out of his new training partner before looking down at the menu in his hands. “Do you want beef or pork? I’m sure we can get them to bring samples of the different sauces they have if you like.”

"Beef!" Akaya said happily and glanced over the menu. "And... how about these sauces?" he leaned over the table, mindful of the grill, and pointed on Hiyoshi’s menu. "I don't need a sample, unless you want one?"

Hiyoshi gave a pleased nod to Akaya’s choices. “Whatever you want is fine. Everything here is good, and I prefer the beef as well.” Fujiwara-san came up to them carrying a tray with water and edamame. With a sweet motherly smile on her face, she bowed politely then distributed the contents of her tray while Hiyoshi exchanged a few pleasantries with her. Hiyoshi then proceeded to order what Akaya had pointed out, along with a couple of beers.

Akaya watched intently as Hiyoshi spoke with the worker and smiled whenever she looked at him. He knew how to be polite when he needed to; Sanada had beaten that into him long ago. When she left, he turned to Hiyoshi and started bouncing in place again before popping an edamame into his mouth. "She seems really nice."

“I only found this place two weeks ago. Fujiwara-san and his wife own the place. I like the food, so I go out of my way to come here every once in a while.” The atmosphere of the restaurant was already doing wonders to Hiyoshi’s stressed out mind, and he was glad that Akaya had decided to join him. Taking a few edamame, he peered up at Akaya uncertainly. “Thank you. For coming with me, I mean.”

Akaya responded with a big ear to ear grin. "Thanks for coming and getting me, even though you did make me lose the bonus for the final battle." He laughed, showing he wasn't upset about it at all. He was just happy that Hiyoshi didn't seem to be mad at him still. "Besides, you're paying right?" He smirked mischievously.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Sure, brat, but I’m not going to treat you all the time. So don’t make it a habit.” They both had already made it a habit. Hiyoshi didn’t actually mind paying for him, he had the money. It just wouldn’t be good if Akaya started to assume it of him.

Akaya’s face lit up again and he looked around the room, checking to see if anyone was looking before leaning over and stealing a quick feather light kiss. As soon as he sat back he sipped at his water and played with the stuff on the table, then turned his attention to the art on the walls.

Hiyoshi blushed at the unexpected action, but didn’t try to chastise him for it. He should have been mad, but he wasn’t. Although still not socially acceptable, Akaya had checked the surroundings first, which was at least an improvement.

Looking down at the table, Hiyoshi determined this might be the best time to bring up the real reason he had brought Akaya out here. It would also be good to do so before the food came. That way, if things went sour, they could distract themselves with good food. Figuring honesty was the best policy in this situation; he decided to just let Akaya know what was on his mind. “I wasn’t sure if you would want to come here with me tonight. I got the impression after we parted last that you were… upset with me. It… bothered me.”

Now that had Akaya’s attention. "You thought I was mad at you?" He blinked a couple times in surprise, then after another moment, started laughing. He couldn't help it. He'd spent all that time locked in his room, trying to avoid Hiyoshi because he thought the other was mad at him. He would have never guessed Hiyoshi felt the exact same way.

Hiyoshi was more than a little confused and a bit offended when Akaya abruptly started laughing. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him. “What the hell else was I supposed to think, brat? You had been all over me practically the entire day, and then suddenly you were yelling at me to get off you!” He grumbled a few choice words under his breath when he realized he had said that a little louder than intended. He continued in a more controlled voice. “You got upset when I got us a cab and haven’t come near me ever since.” He knew that An-san had something to do with it as well, but it had been the first time that Akaya hadn’t wanted him to touch him… and that had hurt.

Akaya’s laughter subsided and he just smiled at Hiyoshi as he explained himself. "I thought you were mad at me," he said once the other boy had finished. "I told you to let go because I was pissed off that I got put into another hold that I didn't know how to get out of." He folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them, "and I was frustrated because you wouldn't let me pay for the cab."

“What gave you the idea I was mad at you?” Hiyoshi asked him incredulously. “I was never mad…” He waited a minute to take in what Akaya had just told him. He had calmed down a bit after he heard Akaya’s explanation, but now had a few questions. “You never seemed to mind the uh... holds before. I thought you were joking with me again.” He felt a bit ashamed now since obviously they made the other boy uncomfortable. “I won’t do it anymore, if it’s a problem…” At least he had a valid reason for the second issue. “I got the cab myself because it was faster that way. An-san wasn’t feeling well, and my family has an arrangement with a private taxi service to be put on the top of the list when called.”

"It's not that I mind them, I just hate that I don't know how to get out of them." Akaya said looking a bit embarrassed. He hated admitting that he couldn't do something. The cab thing made sense though so he let it go. "You kept treating me different... and you--just left when I said I was going to take An-chan back... I wanted to talk to you more... but I didn't get the chance..."

Slowly but surely, Hiyoshi was starting to feel comfortable again. “It’s actually not that hard to get out of most of them,” he smirked, “you just don’t know how to use your legs properly.” He hesitated for a moment. “I guess I could show you, some… if you want that is.” He wasn’t sure if that was really a wise idea, but he would ponder that later. He sighed and went on to the more reluctant topic. “Since I thought you were upset with me, I figured when you said you were going to take An-san home, you didn’t want me around anymore. Also… I thought you might want to spend some time alone with her. I didn’t want to get in the way in case… something happened.” He turned his face away, not really wanting to know if something did happen. He knew Akaya, and had no intention of trying to change him, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hear the details.

"In case something happened?" Akaya blinked for a moment, trying to figure out what Hiyoshi was talking about, then frowned when he realized what he meant. "Hell no, nothing happened. I don't take advantage of drunk girls, or guys," he added as an afterthought, "But that's besides the point. Will you really teach me how to get outta them? And can you even get people who are bigger than you in them?"

Hiyoshi was saved from having to answer him by Fujiwara-san arriving just in time. She placed their beers down before firing up the grill and placing the different plates of Rōsu and Karubi in front of them along with a few assorted vegetables and sauces.

Thanking her for the food, Hiyoshi brought his chopsticks up and said a grateful “itadakimasu” before placing his food in an organized manner on the grill.

Doing the same, Akaya forgot all about his question. The only thing on his mind was food, and not just any food, but his favorite food. Grilled beef awesomeness. As soon as the meat was cooked enough, he plucked it off the grill, dipped it, and popped it into his mouth, not caring even a little that it was burning hot.

Hiyoshi winced a bit when he saw Akaya put almost literally burning meat in his mouth. “It’s dead. It’s not going anywhere.” He joked as he went to eat his own food. How did Akaya manage to be so excited over such small things? He sometimes reminded him a lot of Jiroh-sempai when he was acting like a five year old on his birthday, except he wasn’t a narcoleptic, and was a much bigger pain when he wanted to be. He chuckled to himself at the comparison.

Looking over to see what Akaya was concocting on his side of the grill, Hiyoshi suddenly felt a bit playful. He brought his chopsticks up and swiftly stole a bit of meat from Akaya’s side of the grill and ate it. “Hmm… tastes good, brat, could use a bit more tare though.” He smirked at him.

Akaya’s jaw dropped as his meat was stolen. "Hey!" He said, sounding rather taken aback that Hiyoshi would dare steal from him. This meant war. Just as swiftly, he stole a piece of Hiyoshi’s and popped it into his mouth with a content smirk.

Schooling his face into a mock glare, Hiyoshi raised his chopsticks in preparation before diving in to grab another piece of meat from the other side of the grill.

Another piece gone! Akaya growled quietly and stole another piece from Hiyoshi’s side, with an irritated glare. No one stole from him and walked away unpunished.

Hiyoshi couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle when he saw Akaya’s glare. It looked less like a glare and more like a child’s angry pout at his favorite toy being stolen. Holding his hands up in mock surrender he gave up on stealing the other’s food… for now, and enjoyed his own. He took a moment to look around and noticed they were the only customers still there. It must have been getting late, and he hoped they weren’t being an inconvenience. He would make sure to bring Akaya back some time and thank Fujiwara-san and his wife.

Looking at the plate of raw meat, Hiyoshi noticed there was only one piece left. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Akaya was about to go for it. With a devious grin, he went to pick it up for himself, cutting Akaya off on his way.

Akaya let out a little yelp as his chopsticks grasped nothing but air. "Hey! That was mine," he pouted and sipped at his beer instead.

Hiyoshi felt the need to roll his eyes, but contained himself. If Akaya was trying to win by using the ‘I’m cute, give me what I want’ method, he would have to try a lot harder than that. “Who says it’s yours, brat? If you want it, you have to fight for it.” He put it on his side of the grill to let it cook, but kept a close eye on his friend across the table.

Akaya’s pout turned into a determined frown and he watched the meat cook. He'd need to use all of his speed training to get it from the other boy. Too bad his split step wouldn't do him any good here.

As soon as the meat finished enough, the bratty demon made his move.

Hiyoshi could see the determined look on Akaya’s face and grinned. He knew that the other boy was probably faster than him, but that didn’t mean he would win. Stealthily, Hiyoshi brought his right leg up under the table till it was resting on a leg of Akaya’s chair. The moment he saw Akaya go for the meat, he swiftly pushed Akaya’s chair back, making it so the meat was no longer in his reach.

With another yelp, Akaya reached out for the meat but his chair was too far back and he once again grasped only air. "Damn it!" He whined and scooted his chair closer again a big frown on his face.

“See, I told you, you need to pay more attention to your legs.” Hiyoshi said with a smug look on his face as he started to pick up the meat with his own chopsticks.

"Shut up," Akaya mumbled and tried to keep from smiling as he picked up his beer again. Stupid Hiyoshi and his stupid 'gay-ko-kujo'. That thought made him snicker to himself as he reached over to pluck the piece of meat from Hiyoshi’s chopsticks and shove it in his mouth before it could be stolen back.

Hiyoshi stopped his movements when he realized that the meat had been stolen right off his chopsticks and was already in the little brat’s mouth. “Demon brat…” he grumbled, a bit miffed, but more amused than anything. He glared at him before standing up and went over to pay for their food at the counter. He exchanged a few more words of thanks with Fujisawa-san, bowing respectfully to her husband whom he could see through a small opening that led to the kitchen.

Crossing his arms over his chest and turning back towards their table, Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow. “Ready to go, brat?”

Akaya sat back in his chair, looking rather pleased with himself as Hiyoshi paid for the bill. While he waited, he finished off his beer. As the other boy came over, he stood. "Yeah. We going back to the dorms?" He asked curiously, not that he wanted to go back, but he didn't know if this was all his friend had planned or not.

They walked outside into the cold air, and back onto the small narrow street. It was dark out, most of the store lights having been turned off for the night. There were only a few street lights on, and he couldn’t see anyone else nearby.

Hiyoshi knew it was late, but he was having a good time and didn’t want to go back to the dorms yet. Still, he didn’t want to make Akaya feel like he had to stay out with him either. “There’s somewhere else I thought we could go, but if you want to go back now, that’s fine.”

"Really? Where you wanna go?" Akaya asked curiously, shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked close to Hiyoshi, their arms brushing with every step. He watched the other boy curiously, his hair getting even more messed up from the light wind that picked up. He didn't recognize the area they were in, but it seemed like Hiyoshi knew so he figured it was ok. The other wouldn't let him get lost.

It didn’t seem like Akaya was in any hurry to go, so taking that as encouragement, Hiyoshi led him through a few more narrow side streets towards their next destination. He began to get annoyed though by Akaya walking so close to him and constantly bumping into him. Finally, he hesitantly extracted one of Akaya’s hands from his pocket and grasped it in his own without looking at him. “This way” he grumbled out, trying to hide the embarrassment in his voice as he pulled him along. “It’s not far.” He was glad no one else was around and it was so dark outside so as to hide the obvious blush covering his face.

Akaya blinked in surprise as his hand was pulled out into the cold air, but a look of realization and a smile found its way to his face as Hiyoshi took his hand in his own. He laced his fingers with the other mans and smiled as he was led around. He let himself relax and look around again, trying to figure out where they were going. "So, where we going anyway?"

“There.” Hiyoshi pointed a finger towards the end of the street they were currently on, where the buildings ended. It was another spot he had found during one of his morning jogs. It was a tiny park, probably for the families with small children in the mostly residential area. The park had a small playground with a set of swings, an old wooden teeter-totter, and a newer looking play set with a chain spider net and slide.

Akaya squinted into the darkness. When the park finally came into focus, his eyes lit up and he ran ahead, pulling Hiyoshi along after him. "Cool! Come on the swings with me!!" He commanded excitedly and as they neared the aforementioned equipment. He flopped down onto one of the seats and started swinging back and forth, using his legs to propel him higher and faster.

‘I knew the brat would like it here,’ Hiyoshi thought, satisfied. Not having much of a choice, he was pulled over to the swings and sat down on the one next to where Akaya already looked like he was trying to drive himself up into the night sky. Calmly swaying back and forth on his own swing, he looked up and enjoyed the beautiful view of the stars, hearing and feeling Akaya’s laughter as he whooshed by him repeatedly.

Once Akaya reached the highest point, he jumped off. As he hit the ground, he rolled to keep from injuring himself, just like he had when he was little. He stood up laughing and picked a woodchip out of his hair. Part of him wondered why Hiyoshi brought him out tonight to two places he loved, but the other part told him to shut up and enjoy it. Hiyoshi wasn't mad at him and that was all that mattered.

“Don’t break anything!” Hiyoshi called out to him, slightly paranoid. “The last thing I need is for your sempai to blame me for another broken bone.” He was already on his toes enough as it was. Sanada-san had already hinted on more than one occasion that should bad things happen to his precious kohai, bad things would happen to him. He really didn’t want to find out what that entailed.

Akaya grinned. "I won't break anything from that." He laughed and ran over to the slide. "Besides," he called out as he slid down with a little childish giggle, "your nose isn't a bone." And his senpai’s said he didn't pay attention in class. He'd show them.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “All the same, I would prefer it if you would make an effort not to cause any bodily harm to yourself so that no harm will come to me.” Standing up from the swing he made his way over to the spider net. The platform on top was connected to the slide, and now that he could see it, there was a pole to slide down on the opposite side. He started to climb up the net, intending to stand on the platform so he could watch Akaya from above at a safe distance.

Akaya watched Hiyoshi carefully from his seat on the end of the slide then, deciding he wanted to copy him, got up and followed the other man up. "How would you end up getting hurt if I get hurt?" he asked curiously.

Hiyoshi, still with his feet on the net, stopped to look down at Akaya as if he was crazy. “If you don’t already know the answer to that question by now, then there is nothing I can do for you.” Shaking his head, he climbed the rest of the way onto the platform and then turned to hold a hand out for Akaya to take.

Smiling, Akaya took the hand and hopped onto the platform. "The senpai-tachi won't hurt you if I get hurt, you're just being paranoid." His senpai weren't that protective of him, the idea was just silly. The only one who would get irritated was probably Sanada and that was just because it would affect his tennis.

Yes, in fact, both Hiyoshi’s physical and mental health was in danger, depending entirely on Akaya’s well being. However, it wasn’t worth debating over at the moment.

Seeing Akaya now safely on the platform, an idea crossed the martial artist’s mind. Using the firm grip he had on Akaya’s hand from helping him up, he quickly took the opportunity to force him face down onto the platform using a basic Aikido hold. None of his body was touching him except that his hand was holding the others arm in such a way that if he had chosen to, he could easily break it. Getting in closer, without relinquishing his hold or putting any more pressure on him, he softly said with obvious amusement in his voice. “First Lesson.” He then loosened his hold on Akaya’s arm, but did not let go, making it so it would be easy for him to escape, should he want to.

Akaya blinked in surprise as he suddenly found himself face to face with the platform. "O-Oi!" he yelped, then paused when he realized the grip wasn't tight. "First lesson..." he repeated quietly, "Then sensei what do I do?"

Hiyoshi let out a small chuckle before adopting a more serious attitude. Trying to demonstrate with actions instead of words, he slowly gripped Akaya’s arm again so he could see and feel exactly how he was holding him. “If I wanted to, I could break it. Your natural instinct is to move away from me, but doing so would only either result in more pain or a broken arm.” With his free hand, he lightly touched the small of Akaya’s back. “Instead, try to move towards me, using my own hold and weight against me.” With gentle nudges from the hand located on his back, he directed Akaya to roll into him. On the platform, there was just enough room for Hiyoshi to slowly let himself be rolled onto his back, his grip on Akaya’s arm naturally turning against him. Akaya was now straddling him, with his once pinned armed now holding Hiyoshi’s in a similar fashion against his chest, while the other was being held above his head. “The basic concept is to use momentum and agility to overpower strength.”

As he followed Hiyoshi’s instructions, Akaya grinned widely. He definitely needed to take martial arts classes. This was fun. "This is awesome! So you're really good at all this stuff right?" He leaned down and kissed him quickly then laughed, "You gotta teach me everything, ok?"

Hiyoshi couldn’t help but smile at Akaya’s enthusiasm. This was, after all, what he wanted to do with his life. “Hmm… we’ll see, brat.” He couldn’t actually teach him much without proper training, which would require a lot of time and patience he was sure Akaya only held for tennis. It wouldn’t hurt though to have some fun teaching him some basic Aikido holds, they were mostly only used for defensive purposes and balance. But for now, he was done playing sensei. “You going to let me go now, or am I going to have to throw you off me?” He asked amusedly from his position below Akaya, hands still held in his grip. He could have effortlessly reversed their positions again, but it was dark and there wasn’t much space. It would be too easy for an accident to happen.

"But you're comfy," Akaya pouted and leaned down to kiss him again slowly. "Don't throw me off. It's a long way down, and fukubuchou would never forgive you if you broke my leg or arm or something." He smiled again and finally crawled off of Hiyoshi, careful of the ledge.

Hiyoshi didn’t move from his position on his back, even after Akaya had moved off of him. Or maybe it was better to say he couldn’t. His whole body was tense. The way Akaya had looked at him, the way he had kissed him. He was always doing that. It was so hard…

“Akaya…” With a low growl as the brat’s only warning. Hiyoshi quickly crawled down after him on the metal net till they were both safely on the ground. He then turned Akaya around and shoved him backwards against the net before claiming his lips for the first time in a harsh kiss. It only lasted for a moment. Hiyoshi ended it almost as quickly as he had started it. “Stop teasing me, brat,” he bit out harshly. “You’re driving me crazy.” Letting go of him, he turned around and went to sit down on the swing again, burying his face in his hands and massaging his temples.

As his back hit the metal net, Akaya couldn't repress the moan that Hiyoshi drew from him. It wasn't like he'd never been dominated before, he had, plenty of times, but this was different. It was Wakashi, his Wakashi. Even though the kiss was quick, it left him breathing harder and his heart was racing.

Swallowing the lump in his throat at the other man’s words, Akaya walked over and crouched down in front of the swing. "I... Wakashi, I'm sorry," he said softly and tugged at his arms, making the other look at him. "I didn't know you felt like that... I--I'll stop okay? Just don't be mad at me."

Hiyoshi didn’t know how to respond. Truthfully, he didn’t want him to stop, but he couldn’t let this continue either. Either way, it was wrong of him to put Akaya in this position. It wasn’t like the brat was frustrating the hell out of him on purpose, right? Forcing himself to calm down, Hiyoshi tried to give Akaya a reassuring look. “I’m not mad… It’s not your fault. I’m just… damn it.” His brat was kneeling in front of him, looking as if he was afraid he’d never speak to him again. “Sorry. Forget I said anything. We should get going.” He stood back up, bringing Akaya with him. “We can come back again sometime if you’d like.” Taking his hand as he’d done earlier, he waited for Akaya’s signal that he was ready to leave.

With Hiyoshi’s hand in his, Akaya gave it a light squeeze before letting go. Slowly, so he could move away if he wanted, he wrapped his arms around the other man in a tight hug. After a moment, he kissed him as well, but this time he didn't move away immediately. He lingered, and gave Hiyoshi the control. It was a chance ball and in his court, what he would do with it was up to him.

At first, when Akaya had pulled away from him, Hiyoshi felt like something was about to break inside him. When Akaya went to hold him and then softly kiss him, he felt his heart stop all together. He closed his eyes and, without thinking, immediately began to carefully kiss him back. Tentatively, he brought him even closer and tangled a hand in his very windblown hair. He knew that Akaya was much more experienced in this field, and was wary of making a mistake, but Akaya’s body felt warm against his and Hiyoshi couldn’t help but let out a soft moan against the other’s pliant lips.

How long had it been since just a kiss and a moan could make him shiver with want like that? Akaya wanted Hiyoshi, but it wasn't in the way he normally wanted someone. He could hear his heart beat loud and clear, 'doki-doki-doki' it was deafening. At that moment, all he wanted was this. This made him forget about all the homework he had, or the levels he still had to beat on his games, even the laps fukubuchou gave him. This was enough.

It was all too easy to forget his surroundings and become lost in the in the soft and tender kiss. The blood was pounding in Hiyoshi’s ears and he wanted nothing more than to continue feeling Akaya’s lips move heatedly against his own. However, he could feel his knees starting to have trouble supporting him and he knew he needed to stop this before it got too out of hand. Gently pulling away from him, he left one last chaste kiss on the other’s lips and whispered, “Let’s go.”

Akaya felt Hiyoshi get wobbly in his arms so he didn't get upset or pout when the other pulled away. "Yeah." He laced his fingers with Hiyoshi’s and started off in the direction of the college. He was emotionally confused and very tired, but he didn't care. This was nice, and he was glad he decided not to spend the whole evening with Vegeta and a controller.

A comfortable silence fell over them as they walked back to the campus. Hiyoshi, for once, didn’t even think to watch if anyone saw them, his mind too occupied by the one who was currently at his side.

When they arrived back on campus, Hiyoshi automatically started walking towards his own dorm. He squeezed their joined hands lightly to indicate it was time to separate, and whispered a small “thank you” to him. He wasn’t quite sure what exactly he was thanking him for, but it seemed appropriate.

Before Akaya even realized it, they were standing in front of Hiyoshi’s door and he felt his hand being released. He wasn't sure what the other man was thanking him for, but it made him smile. "I should be thanking you. That was fun. We totally gotta do it again, ok?"

Automatically returning his smile with a small one of his own, Hiyoshi shyly but unflinchingly replied, “I had a good time. We can go back any time you want.” He brought his hand up to ruffle Akaya’s crazy curls one more time before murmuring a small “see you later” and disappearing into his room.

Akaya just stood there for a minute, staring at the closed door with a smile on his face before slowly turning and heading back to his dorm. He was confused and had a lot to think about, but he'd do it later. Hiyoshi wasn't going anywhere, so he still had a while to sort out his feelings and figure out what everything meant.


	9. Chapter 9

Hiyoshi was sitting at his desk with his laptop computer open, catching up on news and sifting through the school’s message board. He was trying to distract himself. His father’s words still rang loudly through his head. He wasn’t going to let himself panic. It wouldn’t help the situation and would only be showing weakness.

Then, on impulse, Hiyoshi wrote a quick email and pressed the send key. He didn’t know what compelled him to write it; he just really wanted to see the brat. Negative thoughts told him that Akaya might not even see it, and even if he did, probably wouldn’t come. He most likely already had plans elsewhere for the evening.

Getting up from his desk, he made his way over to the futon, planning to partake in one his most habitual pastimes… staring at the ceiling. It was a unique form of meditation. He found that after a while of staring at the slightly off white wall, it even seemed like it was staring back at him.

Akaya walked down the hall in only his pants with a towel around his shoulders that his hair dripped onto. He'd just finished with his shower and was planning on spending some quality time with his super Nintendo. He'd neglected it for far too long.

Walking into his room, he opened up his laptop out of habit and moved his finger over the touch screen to turn it on. It automatically brought up his email. The first message he saw was from Hiyoshi and it made his heart stop for a moment. 'Akaya. My room. Now.' sent only 2 minutes ago. He swallowed the lump in his throat and grabbed a button up shirt before closing the laptop and running out of the room.

As Kirihara ran across campus, completely forgetting to put his shirt on, he went over what could possibly be wrong. If Hiyoshi was hurt then he'd be in the nurse’s office or the hospital, right? The thought did little to reassure him. Hiyoshi was stubborn; would he even go to the hospital?

He cleared the stairs two at a time and stopped only when he'd thrown open Hiyoshi’s door. "Wakashi! You alright?" He asked hurriedly between breaths.

‘Akaya is here.’ That thought repeated through Hiyoshi’s head a few times, almost not believing it. The Rikkai demon was standing in his doorway, out of breath, his hair dripping wet. Had he run all the way there? Tone of voice implying… concern? The thought made Hiyoshi smile.

Without saying a word, Hiyoshi stood and grabbed Akaya’s arm, dragging him back over to the futon with him. He wrapped his arms around Akaya’s waist, pulled him down on top of the blankets, and buried his head in the crook of Akaya’s neck. He always liked how warm the other boy was.

Akaya barely had time to click the door shut behind him as he was suddenly pulled over to the futon. Somewhere along the way the shirt he'd been holding fell to the floor, but it didn't really matter as he felt arms wrap around him.

"W-Wakashi?" He whispered and ran his hand through light brown hair. "What's wrong?" This was definitely not normal behavior for the other man.

This was what Hiyoshi had wanted, just to have the brat there with him. It didn’t bother him anymore that he was obviously attracted to the chibi-demon, or even the knowledge that he cared for him. If he wasn’t going to be allowed this anymore then it didn’t matter what happened right then.

Hesitating only for a moment, Hiyoshi brought his face up to look at him. Akaya always wore his emotions out in the open, and right then, he looked confused and genuinely worried. Hiyoshi slowly dragged his hand through Akaya’s hair, enjoying the texture between his fingers, and then rolled them over so that Akaya was on top of him. This was what the brat wanted, right?

“Don’t talk." Hiyoshi breathed deeply and pulled Akaya down to him, lips parting in wordless demand.

For the second time in 10 minutes, Akaya’s heart stopped. He wasn't even sure how he had ended up above Hiyoshi; all he knew was that there were now lips pressed against his. After another moment, his body reacted and his eyes fluttered closed. He kissed back hungrily; endorphins and adrenaline rushed through his body, making him shiver and groan.

Hiyoshi didn’t even try to hold back the tremor he felt pass through the whole length of his body. Deepening the kiss, the other hand stole back into his friend's hair, sealing them together. His thoughts were scattered as he let out a low moan that left him aching. He would have a lifetime to re-think his actions and maybe even regret them, but right then he couldn’t bring himself to care.

Part of Akaya was screaming that something was wrong, that Hiyoshi would never kiss him like this, at least not unless Akaya initiated it, but the other part of him was telling him to just shut up and enjoy it. This was what he'd wanted, right?

The kiss was hungry and heated, and it was easy to forget everything and just let all his worries go. His inexperience not deterring him as Hiyoshi let his body take over what his mind couldn’t process. As far as he was concerned, if this was what Akaya wanted from him, then fine. As long as he didn’t leave. But, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do next. Separating their lips, Hiyoshi tried to catch his breath as he looked up at Akaya with a dazed expression. “What… happens next?”

Akaya’s first thought was to say, 'strip' but he stopped to think about it. Something he didn't normally do and something he probably wouldn't have done had he not spent so much time with the other boy. "It depends," he whispered huskily, still breathing like he'd just stopped running. "Do you really want this?" He cupped Hiyoshi’s crotch to indicate exactly what he meant.

Hiyoshi immediately felt an overwhelming need to arch into Akaya’s hand, but barely contained it and forced himself to calm down. Did he really want this? ”YES” his body nearly screamed back at him. Except, he also knew the rest of him was still uncertain. He closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself. After he forced his emotions back under some semblance of control, he looked emotionlessly back up into Akaya’s waiting eyes. “It’s fine.”

Akaya closed his eyes as Hiyoshi responded the way he had expected. He rolled off of Hiyoshi and sat on the edge of the futon with his back to the other man. "Why did you want me to come over here Wakashi?" he grumbled and ran a hand through his hair, trying to get his body (and emotions) under control.

Hiyoshi was confused. Why was the brat upset? Sitting up, but not moving him, he asked, “What’s wrong? I… Isn’t this what you wanted?” Taking a deep breathe, he put his hand to his forehead, trying to clear his thoughts. “I wanted to see you…” He mumbled finally, his arm twitching to pull the other boy back against him, but held back.

"Yeah, having sex with you would be great, but I'm not going to when you don't actually want it." Akaya scratched at the back of his neck and stared at the floor. "Don't deny it, alright. It's really damn obvious. I'm not mad or anything, I'm just trying to figure out what's wrong. This isn't like you."

Hiyoshi felt the guilt seep into him almost immediately. Akaya was right. After all the time they’d spent together, he should have known better. The brat knew him well enough by now to know that he wasn’t completely ready for this. Turning towards him, he whispered a quiet “sorry” before letting out a frustrated sigh. “My father called. I had been wondering why I hadn’t heard from him sooner...” he trailed off for a moment. “He wants me to go home.”

"Your father?" Akaya glanced at Hiyoshi out of the corner of his eye and frowned. Why would he--Oh... the bitch... "Is he angry?" He asked quietly, his voice reflecting just how horrible he felt about what had happened.

Hiyoshi wanted to say that was an understatement, but held back, not wanting to make Akaya feel worse for his part in this. “I guess Keiko-san hadn’t said anything to my family about what happened because she expected me to call her on Valentines Day to “explain myself” and make it up to her. How the hell was I supposed to know that?” He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. He had tried calling her a few times after that horrifying night, but she never answered or returned any of his calls. “She told my family… that… I’m gay. That I insulted her and embarrassed both myself and her.” This part he almost couldn’t argue with. He had embarrassed both of them, although not intentionally.

Akaya’s chest wrenched and he dropped his head. This was all his fault. "I'm sorry... I..." He didn't know what else to say. All he could think of were apologies and he knew they wouldn't change anything. Finally he forced a little pathetic laugh. "See... I told you she was a bitch..."

Hiyoshi was getting sick of Akaya apologizing. He hated it when his brat looked so dejected. "Shut up," Hiyoshi growled at him, hand tightening impatiently in his hair and tugging his face around to face him. “You’re right, she was a bitch. I would not have been happy with her so there is no reason for you to apologize anymore.” He let his face soften a bit and he leaned forward to softly kiss Akaya’s almost completely healed nose. “Besides, we both had things to apologize for, and what’s done is done.”

The little demon blinked a couple times in surprise at both Hiyoshi’s words and actions, and then smiled a little as he felt the brush of lips on his nose. "Yeah..." He said quietly and captured the others lips in a quick kiss before asking, "What are you going to do?"

Hiyoshi felt himself relaxing despite the sinking feeling still in his stomach. Akaya’s smile seemed to have that effect on him. “Apparently my father is blaming my misconduct on the fact that it’s my first time away from home and thinks that I must be surrounded by bad influences.” He raised an eyebrow to Akaya and tried to add teasingly, “I might have to agree that he may have a point.”

Akaya stuck his tongue out at Hiyoshi but then let his features turn serious again. "Then you may be able to talk to him. Explain what happened. Lie if you have to. Just... don't say you'll leave the school, okay?"

“It’s not really a matter of what happened anymore. He’s thinking about making me drop out of this University, and enroll me somewhere closer to home where he can…” his face took on a disgusted look and he flopped onto his back on the futon. “...keep a closer eye on me. Heh. At least he’s not thinking about disowning me…” He really didn’t want to leave. He had finally been getting comfortable here. This was where Choutarou, Gakuto, and a few people he now considered to be kind of like a second family were. Not to mention… He looked up at Akaya again briefly before turning away to hide the emotion he was sure showed on his face.

"Oh... Then... Can't you convince him to let you stay? I mean... Maybe Atobe-san will help you? He seems nice enough and fukubuchou said he's very uh..." He paused as he pondered over the word, trying to find the right one, "purs--persiv---persuasive! Maybe he can help convince your dad. Or I could talk to fukubuchou! He's really, really persiv---good at that kinda thing. I'm sure he'd help. He likes practicing with you. I can tell."

“I don’t know. My father doesn’t like excuses. I’ll need to prove to him somehow that staying here is what’s best for me as his heir. I need to show him that… I’m becoming a man and honorable adult.” He had been thinking about how he could do that for the last few hours and all he could come up with was, “If I had a proper girlfriend…” or maybe what Akaya suggested could work, “or Sanada-san was willing to vouch for me…” He sulked back with a grouchy scowl on his face. Both of those options were still a long shot and weren’t realistically possible.

"That's it!" Akaya said suddenly and smiled wide. "We just gotta find you a girlfriend! Someone pretty and smart you can show off to your dad! Then he won't make you leave! It's a perfect plan!" He hopped up to his feet and started pacing around as he thought. "Yeah! Now we just gotta find a girl. Hmm... Someone who’s not a bitch... Kotoko? No, no, she's dating that funky Osakan guy now... Um... Oh! I know!!! What about An-chan? I'm sure she'll help you out."

“Are you insane?” Hiyoshi voice was incredulous. “I don’t want another girlfriend! I agree that An-san is not bad, but she’s not interested in me like that.” Not to mention she had a thing for Akaya. He sat up and rubbed his temples. “I’d be more likely to get help from Sanada-san than find a girlfriend by this weekend.”

"Let's just ask her! If anything she can pretend to be your girlfriend so your dad leaves you alone," Akaya explained quickly. "Unless you wanna leave."

Hiyoshi looked away, not wanting Akaya to see his face looking so vulnerable. “You know I don’t.” He snapped and thought about the chances of it actually working. “Okay, I’ll ask her. But I’m still going to need a back up plan in case she says no. Hell, even if she says yes, it may still not be enough to convince him.”

"We gotta do what we can," Akaya explained and turned Hiyoshi to look at him. "If she says no, there’s other people I can ask, but she'd be the best bet. If you guys act well, your dad will let you stay, I'm sure."

Akaya genuinely wanted him to stay; the thought was comforting in a way. “Alright brat, I said I’d ask her.” Akaya was already right there next to him, so Hiyoshi lifted his arms to wrap around him and pulled down until they were both laying on the futon. He hugged his brat to him while running a hand through his hair the way he knew Akaya liked. He’d recently realized having the brat close helped him to relax more than almost anything else. Even if he was a frustrating demon brat… he was a comfy frustrating demon brat. He whispered a small “thank you” into his neck near his ear.

Akaya grinned and snuggled up to Hiyoshi more with a contented sigh. The feeling in his chest from the other night was back and it left him feeling confused and scared, but then the other man thanked him and he didn't care anymore.

"...I'm sleeping here tonight," Akaya stated, leaving no room for argument. It was only then he was really glad he'd never gotten around to putting on his shirt because he didn't have to pull away from Hiyoshi to take it off. He hesitantly placed a kiss on the other’s lips, moving slowly so that the other could stop him if he wanted to.

Hiyoshi closed his eyes, smiling contentedly against Akaya lips. It would be wrong of him to refuse him since he had basically demanded he come over in the first place (or at least that was the excuse). The chibi demon’s body felt warm against his, and he knew he was quickly becoming addicted to those kisses and tentative touches. The memory of their kiss in the park was still fresh in his mind. However, Hiyoshi was starting to become uncomfortable since he still had both the jeans and collared shirt on he’d worn that day. He pulled away from the other boy and began unbuttoning his shirt, intending to put his pajamas on for the night.

As Hiyoshi pulled away, Akaya frowned. He always hated losing the physical contact and he silently hoped he hadn't gone too fa--oh. Hiyoshi was stripping? Did that mean he wanted to... Rikkaidai’s fourth demon swallowed the little lump in his throat. Hiyoshi seemed more clear minded now, so it would be ok to keep going, right? Deciding that was a firm yes, he just enjoyed the show, part of him wondering if he should take off his pants or something.

After his shirt was removed, Hiyoshi got off the bed to do away with his jeans and replaced them with his pajama pants. He was still in his boxers when he looked back over at Akaya. He raised a questioning eyebrow at his expression. The brat looked way too happy than what was in his comfort level. Walking back over with a smirk and sitting on the edge of the futon, he pulled at one of Akaya’s stray curls. “You look like you’re about to attack something with that smile. Should I be worried?”

Akaya’s only response was a wicked grin as he pushed Hiyoshi down against the futon and climbed on top of him. He moved down to kiss the other’s neck and exposed collar bone slowly and teasingly. "It's hard not to want to attack you when you're like this," he mumbled, smirking as he ran his tongue along the length of Hiyoshi’s neck, only stopping when he found an ear lobe that he promptly nipped and started sucking at.

How long had it been since he was with anyone? Akaya honestly couldn't remember anymore. How had that happened? He used to go out every weekend, a different girl (or guy) every night. Why had he stopped? What was he doing with his nights now? Then he realized it. He'd spent almost every weekend with Hiyoshi, just hanging out, and somehow that was infinitely more fun than going out on the town with strangers. But still, he was a boy, he had physical needs, and it was obvious to even someone inexperienced just how much he wanted to end his little dry spell.

‘Fuck’ was the only distinguishable word that came to mind when Akaya literally pounced on him. Hiyoshi flushed red at the feel of his lower regions swelling at Akaya’s attentions. His breath hitched, a shudder running from head to toe and then straight to his groin. Hiyoshi had already started to feel hot all over, but when Akaya rolled so that he was completely on top of him, he thought he’d burn. His arms instinctively came up to pull him closer while running them slowly up and down his back and sides.

Oh god, he wanted this, but… was he really okay with it? Hiyoshi knew he had feelings for the other boy, and obviously at least the physical attraction was mutual. However… he also knew that he could never be satisfied with only a physical relationship. Akaya wouldn’t be willing to offer anything more than that. He could never ask Akaya to change.

When Akaya’s fingers started to inch towards his boxers, unlike earlier, Hiyoshi was now thinking straight again. That was way into uncharted territory. He reached up to thread a hand through Akaya's hair, tilting his head up so he could brush his lips against his again. That was usually the best way to distract him.

Sure enough, Akaya's fingers stilled, but the softness of his hair under his hand was its own distraction, and Hiyoshi couldn't help rubbing his fingers against Akaya’s scalp, objective already half-forgotten. “Akaya… we need to stop.”

When his hand was stopped, Akaya couldn't say he was surprised, but it was still a bit disappointing. "I don't want to," he mumbled, but brought his hand back up obediently. He would never force the other to do anything he didn't want to do, but he wanted to so bad. "I really..." He paused and smiled a little sadly, "I really want you though, Wakashi." He kissed him lightly, giving the other a choice to deepen the kiss or pull away. He knew that it probably wouldn't go any further, but he couldn't help hoping he was wrong. He wanted the light fluttery feeling in his chest, the one he only seemed to get around Hiyoshi, to continue.

“I’m… I’m sorry, I…” Hiyoshi mumbled, pulling away from him, having to use all his self-control not to just give in and draw him closer again. “Akaya, I…” He didn’t know what he wanted to say, his head still in that aroused state but now restless in his anxiety. “It’s not that I don’t… want to.” He fell silent as a soft but sad smile came over his face. He brought a hand up to gently brush away the hair that had fallen into Akaya’s face and gave him the most honest answer he could. “I won’t be with someone only for the sex.” He paused. “Can’t we just… stay like this for now?”

Akaya felt his chest clench painfully as Hiyoshi moved away from him. "It's ok..." he sighed and paused, trying to gather his thoughts. “I... I'm not just in it for the sex..." he mumbled quietly. "If I was, I would have left a long time ago. I just..." He pushed himself off of the other man so he was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, and draped an arm over his eyes. "I'm confused," he whispered and with his free hand reached out and took Hiyoshi hand in his own and pressed it to his chest so he could feel the rapid strong thumps of his heart. "My heart is pounding... and all 'doki doki'. I don't know what that means... People keep telling me it means you like someone when it does that, but I've only liked one person before and that was... ya know, different."

Hiyoshi’s breath hitched when Akaya took his hand and held it against his chest, feeling his heart beat. The brat was confused? Did this mean… he may care for him back? Hiyoshi closed his eyes, feeling a smile coming to his face. He roughly yanked Akaya back towards him and pinned him beneath him, smiling openly down at him. “If you’re confused, then I guess we better wait until you figure it out.” He let himself relax down onto the brat, feeling the day’s events starting to take their toll. “It’s late. I’m going to sleep. You can leave now if you want, or stay…” He kissed the healed nose once before comfortably leaning down to burrow against the warm demon.

Akaya could have almost laughed at how quickly the serious mood changed, but instead he just smiled and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi. "Yeah alright, good night," he mumbled and stared up at the ceiling, absently running his hand up and down the other man’s back. He couldn't stop thinking about that smile. "I'll figure it out soon..." he whispered, more to assure himself than Hiyoshi. “Be patient...” He held the other boy a bit tighter and resigned himself to the sleepless night he had ahead of him.

Hiyoshi just held him closer, almost laughing at the irony of Akaya asking him to be patient. The next few days were going to be hazardous on his nerves. He had to talk to An tomorrow as well as convince his father to let him stay at the school. The task didn’t seem so daunting though with a chibi demon brat there with him.


	10. Chapter 10

The sound of the lock clicking open was music to his ears. Akaya opened Hiyoshi’s door with a triumphant smirk and stepped inside, then closed and locked the door behind him again. He looked around, seeing no one of course. If Hiyoshi was around he never locked the door. He knew the other would be coming back today and wanted to see him. He'd been nervous all weekend about the other’s visit home, and had nearly worn a hole in his floor pacing, before finally deciding to wait for Hiyoshi to get back.

Wandering around the room, he peeked into a few drawers and boxes before laying down on the futon with a sigh. Hopefully the other boy would come back soon. He was tired of worrying about what was going to happen. He hadn't slept since Wednesday night and wasn't sure how he was still able to function normally at this point, but somehow he'd managed to make it through classes ok. Now, just a bit longer and maybe he'd finally be able to sleep. It all depended on how the trip had gone and if Hiyoshi’s father had listened to Sanada.

Hiyoshi had begun his search for Akaya the minute he arrived back on campus. He hadn’t seen him in four days. After the nerve wracking visit home with An-san, he was anxious to tell his friend what happened, as well as ask him a few questions about a certain fukubuchou’s unexpected involvement. Hiyoshi had tried calling him on his phone twice, but received no response. He went to the brat’s room, the tennis courts, and a couple of other parts of campus he frequented. Frustrated, he finally gave up on the search and made his way back to his own dorm.

Unlocking the door, and making his way in, the frustrated martial artist was surprised to find the very person he’d just spent the last hour or so looking for lying on his bed. See him there made all his frustration disappear in an instant. Smirking, he leaned back against the door frame with his arms crossed. “You know brat, breaking and entering is considered illegal in most places.”

Hearing the sound of the door open, Akaya’s ears perked up and he glanced over. The image of Hiyoshi standing in the doorway like that sent a shiver up his spine and a feeling of relief flowing through him. "Hey, not my fault your lock is so easy to pick," he replied, sitting up and scratching at his mass of black curls. "Welcome home, Wakashi."

Closing the door behind him, Hiyoshi was making his way towards the futon when he realized something seemed a bit… off about the brat. He had black circles under his eyes and his voice wasn’t carrying its usual mix of energy and deviousness. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?” He reached a hand out, his previous intentions forgotten for the moment, and rested it against Akaya’s forehead, then moved it down to cup his cheek. “Didn’t you tell me once you had the immune system of a low-level god?”

Akaya wasn't sure whether to laugh or kick Hiyoshi’s ass for that. It was the other man’s fault he looked like crap. "I'm fine," he whispered, the feeling of the hand on his cheek sending more shivers through him. "I just haven't slept much." It wasn't a lie; it was just... stretching the truth a bit.

Raising an eyebrow, Hiyoshi decided not to question him further. If Akaya wanted to tell him why he looked like shit, he would. He leaned down to briefly brush his lips lightly against Akaya’s. “Get some sleep then while I unpack, I was thinking about taking a small nap too since I haven’t slept well the last few days.”

The lips brushing over his own seemed to sooth any other unrest Akaya felt and almost immediately the exhaustion caught up with him, but that didn't keep him from burying a hand in the other’s hair and pulling him in for another kiss. It hadn't been that long since they'd seen each other, but the feeling that rushed through his chest made him feel like it had been years. When he finally pulled away for air, he stayed close enough that his lips brushed against Hiyoshi’s as he spoke. "It's ok. How did the trip go?"

“Mmm…” Hiyoshi almost hummed into the kiss Akaya initiated. It felt so nice to be back with his brat again. He didn’t feel like talking anymore or moving away at all for that matter. “Scoot over,” he commanded simply. When Akaya didn’t pull away right away, he pushed him against the wall and lay down next to him. “Sleep now. Talk later.” It was early evening, but he figured a small nap would do them both some good. His body facing away from the other boy, he let out a yawn.

Automatically, Akaya brought his arms around Hiyoshi’s waist and pulled him close, nibbling at his ear lightly. "Just tell me," he said almost pleadingly, "Are you staying? He's not going to make you leave is he?" As tired as he was, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he knew what was happening.

“I’m staying.” Letting his own arms cover the ones holding him, Hiyoshi smiled, glad that Akaya couldn’t see his expression. Closing his eyes, it didn’t take but a few minutes to fall asleep.

Letting out the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding, Akaya sighed in relief and kissed Hiyoshi’s neck before nuzzling it and closing his eyes. He'd never heard two better words. "Good," he whispered and finally let the darkness claim him.

 

Akaya wasn't sure how long it had been, but when he opened his eyes it was pitch black. Where was he? The heat and little mumble in his arms answered that for him. He was with Hiyoshi. That thought relaxed him immediately and he smiled. At some point Hiyoshi had turned over in his arms so now they were face to face. For a little while he just watched the other man sleep, then finally he leaned forward and kissed him. "Nee, Wakashi, wake up," he said quietly.

Hiyoshi grumbled under his breath when hearing his name being called, bringing him back to grudging consciousness. Grumpily, he turned around, putting space between himself and the interfering voice. “Still sleeping, brat.”

Taking that as a challenge, Akaya scooted up behind him again and slid a hand down his side. "But I'm bored," he mumbled, a playful tone in his voice. He was still tired, but the nap he'd taken was enough to re-energize him for now. "It's been so long since I've seen you," he mumbled, letting his tone turn pouting as his hands roamed all over Hiyoshi’s body.

Hiyoshi shivered at the touch then sleepily rolled over to pin Akaya underneath him; the surprise of being woken up by sexual harassment not completely unexpected. “G-b…bor…som-wh..es…” He mumbled indistinguishably into his collar bone.

Akaya couldn't repress the little laugh as Hiyoshi mumbled sleepily against him. It was just too painfully cute. "What the hell did you say?" He asked quietly, even as his hands snuck up under Hiyoshi’s shirt and started tracing over his toned muscles with feather light, teasing touches.

"Go be bored somewhere else.” Hiyoshi repeated with emphasis. Hiyoshi was not a morning person. He finally forced his eyes open and looked at the clock. Damn it… It wasn’t even morning yet! He could feel Akaya’s hands moving over him, making his body respond and start to wake up without his permission… Grumpily, Hiyoshi dragged his gaze up to meet Akaya’s with some effort. "You're already sleeping in my bed…” He started irritably, “how much closer do you want to be?"

"I can think of a way to get much, much closer." Akaya grinned devilishly and slid his hands out of the other’s shirt, only to bring them to rest on Hiyoshi’s rear end. "Wake up and I'll show you exactly what I mean," he chuckled.

Lightly smacking Akaya in the side of the head, Hiyoshi half snickered, half warned. “Don’t even think about it.” Well, he was awake now, might as well make the brat happy and attempt to entertain him. Pulling away from the offending hand and sitting up, he stood sleepily and stretched. Wasn’t there something he wanted to talk to the brat about? His sleep blurred brain was still trying to fully awaken.

"Awww....." Akaya whined and sat up as the other man crawled off of him. He disliked the loss of contact, but he wasn't without it for long. Before Hiyoshi could get very far, he wrapped his arms around him from behind and pulled him down onto his lap, and kissed the back of his neck.

Not protesting in the slightest, Hiyoshi’s head dropped forward and groaned at the contact, unconsciously giving Akaya better access to his neck.

Akaya grinned mischievously and licked along his neck lightly and teasingly, the other was definitely not a morning person.

“You better not give me another hickey.” Hiyoshi warned. It had been a pain trying to hide the last one for the few days it took for it to fade; especially trying to hide it from Sanada. Oh yeah, he needed to talk to Akaya about Sanada.

Unwrapping himself from Akaya’s arms and standing, Hiyoshi turned around to face the other boy and put on his serious face. Well, as serious as he could give him this early in the morning. “I believe you have some explaining to do.”

"...Eh?" Akaya blinked and his head cocked to the side as he stared at Hiyoshi. "What the hell are you talking about?" he asked curiously, wondering what had brought about the quick change in behavior. What could he possibly have to explain?

‘Ugh’ Hiyoshi’s brain winced. His brat wasn’t allowed to look that cute this early in the morning. “My father informed me while I was there that Sanada-san arrived prior to my arrival and assured him of my ‘good moral’ and he apparently agreed to ‘supervise my training and behavior’.” His eyes narrowed. “Exactly why would Sanada-san have done that?”

"Because I asked him to..." Akaya said simply. There was no point in skirting around the issue or trying to act innocent. "It helped to convince your father to let you stay right? So what's the problem?"

Hiyoshi’s head landed in his palm. “There are many problems. First, it was my problem. I don’t remember asking you to interfere. Two, if I wanted Sanada-san’s help, I would have and should have asked him myself. And three, if I know Sanada-san, no matter what I say, he’s going to follow through with his word. I don’t even want to think about what his idea of ‘supervise me’ entails.” He shuddered at the thought. He already had his own commanding senpai and didn’t need to add more to the list. He sighed and gave Akaya an exasperated look. “Honestly, I have no idea how you were even able to convince him to do it.”

"It wasn't very hard," Akaya said honestly. He had many 'innocent' kohai powers that Hiyoshi wasn't aware of and he knew exactly how to use them to his advantage. Even the mighty Emperor Sanada couldn't stand up to them. "Besides, having fukubuchou watching out for you isn't so bad. And you didn't handle it sufficiently yourself so I had to help," he explained flatly and emotionlessly. He didn't see any reason to defend his actions; they'd worked as expected and hoped.

“I could have sufficiently handled the situation just fine!” Hiyoshi sneered, not liking Akaya’s tone. “It was none of your business to get involved, especially without asking me first.” His response was rough and growing more so. “Just because you enjoy having ‘drill sergeant Sanada-san’ boss you around, does not indicate that I would.” The brat was pissing him off. How dare Akaya make assumptions or think that he wasn’t capable of taking care of his own problems.

"You could have, but you didn't!" Akaya snapped, glaring up at him from the edge of the futon. "Don't you dare say anything bad about Fukubuchou, especially not after he went out of his way to make sure you could stay! He's strict, yeah, but he does it for a reason!" He clenched his fists into the comforter, trying to force himself to calm down as the edge of his eyes tinged with pink. If there was one thing you didn't do around him it was insult his senpai (especially his fukubuchou). "It is too my business, so quit bitching and accept the fact that people like you enough to fight for you to stay! And stop acting like a god damn drama queen!"

This needed to stop before Hiyoshi said or did anything he was going to regret, but that final comment had struck a cord. Drama Queen?! He was about to come back with another sharp retort, but something else the brat said also struck him. He had done it for him.

Taking a deep calming breath, Hiyoshi tried to reply in a much calmer manner, though his body language was still closed and tense. “I apologize for the comment about Sanada-san. I meant no disrespect to him. He did help me. I just would have preferred you talk to me first before going to him.”

Akaya closed his eyes for a moment, taking the time to breathe and calm himself down. Last thing he needed was to end up going bloodshot on Hiyoshi (again). When he opened his eyes again he frowned and looked anywhere but at the other man. "Sorry..." he mumbled. He probably should have asked first, but he just wanted to help.

Hiyoshi just stood there for a moment, staring at the wall behind Akaya. He wasn’t very good at handling these types of situations. Arms crossed, not wanting to look at Akaya’s expression, he muttered out uncomfortably. “Sorry for yelling. Thank you for… caring.”

Finally Akaya turned his attention back to Hiyoshi and smiled a little. "Yeah." he did care, and he'd only come to recently realize how much. It took advice from quite a few of his senpai, but he had come to realize that he did indeed 'like like' Hiyoshi, he just wasn't ready to tell him that yet.

‘So…’ Hiyoshi thought. ‘What was he supposed to do now?’ It was one of those awkward moments where usually he would just nod and leave, but… they were in his room, and he didn’t want Akaya to leave either. He began to raise a hand forward, but then quickly drew it back into its crossed position. He then started to take step forward, but again changed his mind and stepped back again. His mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out since he wasn’t sure what he should say. ‘This is ridiculous!’ He glared above him for a moment at the ceiling, cursing both himself and the situation.

Akaya watched him curiously with a slowly growing smile; it looked like Hiyoshi couldn't figure out quite what he wanted to do. It was rather comical, and by the time Hiyoshi turned his eyes to the ceiling, Akaya couldn't repress his laughter anymore. He reached out and grabbed Hiyoshi’s hands then pulled him over and onto the bed so he was lying on top of Akaya again. He smiled up at him proudly and gave him a little ' v ' with his fingers before wrapping his arms around the other man.

When Akaya began to laugh, Hiyoshi’s automatic response was to be indignant, but then gave an inelegant “oof” as Akaya pulled him on top of him. Looking down at the culprit, he saw the smile and child-like ‘v’ and couldn’t help but smile back. Then he caught himself and quickly forced the usual glare back on to his face and rolled his eyes.

That just made Akaya grin get even bigger and he snaked his hands up under Hiyoshi’s shirt again. Hiyoshi was built in a very different way than him. He was designed for tennis whereas Hiyoshi... Hiyoshi was built for the martial arts. Akaya had never loved martial arts more than he had at that moment.

The way Akaya was looking at him (not to mention they way he was touching him) made Hiyoshi blush. “I…” Hiyoshi hated when things started getting stupidly sentimental. He usually forced himself never to show any emotion towards others. Of course, when he tried doubly hard to keep it back, his blush was doubly obvious. “I hope you know that I’m still angry about this.” he said grumpily, “and that it had better not happen again.” His voice was stern, but somehow he knew it was completely un-convincing.

"I know, I know," Akaya said with a little smile and chuckle. Maybe he was a coward, just like Yukimura had said. When he thought of telling Hiyoshi how he felt, his whole body froze up and it felt like his heart would stop beating, but he knew he had to. He couldn't run away, as much as he wanted to. "Naa Wakashi," he mumbled, nipping and sucking at one of the other boy’s ear lobes, "You told me I needed to figure things out, remember? Well... I did..."

Hiyoshi literally froze in his arms. That was the last thing he had expected Akaya to say. He slowly pulled himself completely up and off the other boy, putting distance between them. What had brought this on? They had just been arguing not two minutes ago. It had only been four days… how could Akaya already have come to any conclusion about them in the time they hadn’t seen each other? Unless… Akaya was going to tell him he wasn’t interested in him like that. Even though he knew it, Hiyoshi didn’t want to hear it, not right now. “We have school in just a few hours, and I haven’t unpacked or showered yet.” He unsteadily ran a hand through his hair, not looking at the other boy. “Maybe you should go back to your own room now.”

Now Akaya was even more scared than he was before. Doubts filled his mind, but he tried to push them away, just like he'd told Yukimura he would do. "Wakashi... I'm not leaving, not yet. I refuse to run away." Wasn't Hiyoshi even a little curious what he decided? Or did he really not like him like that so he was just trying to avoid the conversation? This was harder than he thought.

Getting up from the bed, Hiyoshi began to mechanically unpack his belongings, any and all emotions completely wiped from his face. “I’m not forcing you to leave.” He was a little confused by the ‘not running away’ comment, but decided to ignore it. “I just have things to do before classes start.” It was becoming hard to breath, and his eyes were starting to sting. He needed to get away from Akaya. Quickly grabbing his shower supplies, not even checking to see if everything was there, he went to the door and opened it. “I’m going to take a shower,” and left.

Thankfully, the shower room was right down the hall, so he didn’t have far to go. Plus, it was around four o’clock in the morning, so Hiyoshi was the only one there. He took many calming breaths and started counting down in his head. He couldn’t even remember the last time he felt this close to… being this upset. He needed to distract himself from what just happened. Quickly stripping and placing his shower supplies outside of one of the stalls, he turned the faucet till the water was nice and steaming hot. Stepping in, he closed his eyes and just let the water rush over him like a comforting blanket.

Fuck. Akaya grabbed one of his shoes and threw it at the closed door in frustration then rested his face in his hands. So Hiyoshi didn't like him. Fine, but he still had to tell him how he felt. He'd made a promise to himself that he would, no matter what. With a frustrated sigh he slipped off his other shoe and walked down to the bathroom.

It was early and the bathroom was empty, save for the sound of water coming from one of the private shower stalls. Walking over to it, he saw Hiyoshi’s stuff sitting just outside of the shower on the little bench. He threw the curtain open with a determined glare set on his face.

Hiyoshi was too deep in thought to hear anything around him except for the fall of water. When the curtain behind him was thrown open, his body automatically reacted by swiftly turning towards the intruder in a defensive pose, completely forgetting his current state of undress. Seeing Akaya standing there did nothing to help his current state of mind. He relaxed his pose almost immediately, but seeing the determined glare on his face he instantly locked eyes with him and returned it, refusing to back down.

Akaya slowly stepped into the shower, noticing how defensive the other was. "Wakashi..." he said quietly and backed Hiyoshi up against the shower wall, making sure to keep his eyes locked with the other boy’s. He didn't care that water was pouring over him, flattening his hair to his face and soaking his clothes, all that he cared about right now was figuring out what the hell was wrong with his friend.

Hiyoshi’s eyes grew wider as Akaya came closer. He might have yelled at him to get out if not for the fact that he already had a thousand thoughts running through his head. He was way past being embarrassed at this point, his mind too busy trying to figure out what to do about the situation. Eyes still connected, he finally bit out, “In case you haven’t noticed, brat, I’m trying to take a shower. I don’t remember inviting you to come along.” Ouch, okay, maybe he shouldn’t have said that, but he was backed into a corner at the moment, both mentally and physically.

"I don't care," Akaya growled quietly and slammed his hand into the tile next to Hiyoshi’s head. "Why the hell did you just run out like that?" he asked, feeling an odd pain in his chest. "If you don't like me then just tell me, ok?!" he said pleadingly starting to sound almost desperate. He had finally been ready to open himself up and tell the other how he felt, and he ran. Now he was just confused and a bit hurt.

“Idiot!” Without thinking, Hiyoshi immediately took Akaya’s hand that he’d slammed against the tile wall and checked to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself. Running his hand over it, he could see he probably at least bruised it. “You should know better than to do stupid shit like that.” He didn’t bring his eyes back up to meet his, but the tone of Akaya’s voice had surprised him. “When did I ever say I didn’t like you?” The words were out before he could stop them, and were whispered softly under his breath. “I told you I was just going to take a shower.”

Akaya blinked in surprise as Hiyoshi started looking over his hand. "As soon as I mentioned my decision you ran away," he grumbled, though the anger was out of his voice. "What did you expect me to think?" he asked quietly.

Letting go of Akaya’s hand and giving him a look as if to say he was crazy, Hiyoshi grumbled back, “Are you an idiot? Do you think that I would let you kiss me, let alone sleep in my bed if I didn’t like you?” How could the brat possibly think that? Wasn’t it obvious how much he had been tormenting himself over this? “…and I didn’t ‘run away’, I just didn’t feel like talking about it at the moment.” Feel self-conscious; he tried to get around Akaya so he could retrieve his towel.

Blocking his way easily, Akaya pushed Hiyoshi back against the tile again and kissed him deeply and possessively. When he finally pulled away, he closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the others. "You scared me," he said with a little laugh, "I--I thought you didn't like me and were going to turn me away or something and... I mean... I like you... So I guess... It just... freaked me out..."

Hiyoshi closed his eyes, struggling to regulate his breathing. Akaya decided he liked him? Akaya just said he liked him, in fact, had been worried over the same things he had. He had just assumed that… What the hell had he been doing?

“I’m sorry…” The red-faced martial artist whispered. He’d never been so angry at himself for being a pessimist until that moment. “I thought… you were going to tell me you didn’t…” He didn’t want to finish that thought. Instead, his lips curved up into a small smile and fingers grasped Akaya’s locks to pull him forward into another kiss. Pent up emotions burst forth, and his lips pushed hard against Akaya’s. Tongues danced as Hiyoshi dug his fingers into Akaya’s scalp and pulled him tightly against him.

Before Akaya had the chance to respond, his lips were claimed roughly by Hiyoshi. He let out a deep guttural moan. This wasn't what he was expecting but it was exactly what he'd hoped for. He moved his hands to the edge of his shirt and pulled it up as far as he could without breaking the kiss. Finally realizing there was no other way, he broke the kiss, ripped the soaked shirt off and threw it to the floor before crushing his lips back against Hiyoshi’s. Skin against skin, chest against chest, it was perfect and it sent a shiver through him. His hands roamed over Hiyoshi’s naked body, taking in every curve and dip that was usually hidden from him, memorizing the feel of it.

Hiyoshi arched into the hot mouth that engulfed his, his fingers greedily clutching at Akaya’s curls even tighter, and his other hand starting it’s exploration of Akaya’s strong back. He loved the feel of him and couldn’t keep himself from moaning, harsh short breaths and gasps leaving his mouth.

“Akaya…” He gasped out, ripping the boy’s lips away from his. “Are you sure?” his eyes were deadly steel as he forced the other to look back at him. “Cause if you’re fucking with me, then I’ll fucking kill you.”

Between gasps and moans Akaya moved his hands to Hiyoshi’s face and cupped his cheeks, looking him straight in the eyes with his intense gaze that was filled with lust and something else. "Yes," he said firmly, making sure Hiyoshi listened to and understood him. "I'm serious, Wakashi. I would never joke about this."

At that, Hiyoshi closed his eyes as he felt something old and hard in him break. He brought his lips down to start dragging across the others neck and shoulder, tentatively tasting him and biting down at a few points while hiding the full smile adorning his features.

As the other boy’s attention turned to his neck, Akaya let his hands drop to Hiyoshi’s hips and tilted his head to the side, giving the other better access. "God..." he groaned, "Nn... Keep doing that..."

No longer able to control his body after Akaya’s affirmation, Hiyoshi planned on doing just that. He continued to attack his neck for a while, going from tasting to biting and even laying tender kisses up and down the whole side of his neck and shoulder, before repeating the process on the other side. Both hands slid down his body, one massaging at the small of his back while the other unconsciously cupped Akaya’s backside bringing him sharply up against him, causing him to moan almost directly into Akaya’s ear. He honestly had no idea what he was doing, but the dam inside him had broke and he was running entirely on instinct.

Akaya wasn't sure how it had happened, but somewhere along the way he'd lost control of what was happening. He also found that right then, he didn't really care. He could feel Hiyoshi’s moans all the way down to his core and he could already feel the bruises that were starting to form along his neck and shoulder. While many would be mad about them and would try to hide them with turtlenecks, Akaya wore hickeys proudly. They were awards and badges. They used to signify that he'd gotten some and that was it, but now they were Hiyoshi’s mark, his claim. He would never dare hide them.

The boldness the other was showing astounded him and left him hungry for more. Moving his own lips to Hiyoshi’s shoulder, Akaya started mimicking the treatment, leaving his own little set of marks on the other boy.

Hiyoshi had to stop as Akaya began his own assault. He knew he was going to be embarrassed as hell later, but at the moment he didn’t give a damn. Leaning his head back against the tile wall, he could feel his knees start to tremble and he bit down on his lower lip to hold back a loud groan as their hips rocked together again. “Shouldn’t we… go somewhere else?” He gasped out. He was starting to get worried about other people walking in.

And the control was his again. Perfect. Akaya bent his knees and leaned down until his lips found a nipple. He nipped at it and licked it teasingly until it was hard before he answered, "We can," he purred, "But no one will bother us here." It was up to Hiyoshi now. It didn't matter to him either way because he didn't care who saw. He moved over to the other neglected nipple and gave it similar treatment while his fingers found and toyed with the first one. This was better than any dream he could have ever imagined.

Hiyoshi was going crazy, a combination of too many new feelings rushing over him all at once. He felt embarrassed at the prospect at being found, but the pleasure was distracting and winning over the embarrassment, leaving only the frantic beating of his heart and burning reaction in his groin. Not wanting to lose all semblance of control, he clutched at ebony curls again, both leaning down and dragging Akaya up so he could capture his lips in another searing kiss. The kiss then turned more teasing as he began to bite not-so-gently and suck at Akaya’s bottom lip, which was a distinct contrast to the almost frantic state of his body. With Akaya’s body plastered fully against his, he could feel his hardened length pulsing almost painfully against Akaya’s water-roughed pants leg.

Akaya didn't complain as some of his control was taken away and his lips were captured in another rough kiss that sent a burning sensation all the way down to his toes. He could feel Hiyoshi’s free erection pressing into his hip and it only served to make his own twitch against his pants. Today had been a bad day to wear really tight jeans apparently. Reaching between them, he unbuttoned and unzipped his pants to give his erection a bit of breathing room. As soon as some of the pressure let up he let out an audible sigh of relief. Instead of bringing his hand back up he watched Hiyoshi’s eyes carefully as he curled his fingers around the other man’s length. He wasn't going to push him, he wasn't that kind of a guy, but it was obvious that it was starting to hurt and he knew there was only one way to ease that pain.

Hiyoshi blinked his eyes open at the sudden feeling of Akaya moving away from him then flushed when he realized what exactly he was doing; however, he didn’t have much time to dwell on it. He grunted and blushed fiercely when Akaya’s hand found his erect member, but a millisecond later was beyond caring. When Akaya’s palm slid over his erection, a loud moan left his lips which he covered with his left hand and immediately thrust into Akaya’s hand without any conscious thought.

That was a heavenly sound and Akaya wanted more. His lips curved into a little smirk as his hand started stroking Hiyoshi at a slow tedious pace, teasing the head with his thumb after every pass. This was his specialty. He wasn't good with words and he wasn't good with relationship stuff, but he made up for it with sexual prowess. He knew Hiyoshi was new to this though so he took it slower than he normally would. He didn't want to scare the other man off of this forever after all.

He started kissing down Hiyoshi’s neck and chest then continued to his abs and lower so he was kneeling before the other man, his hand still keeping up its rhythmic pace. He looked up at Hiyoshi’s eyes through wet black curls and asked him silently if this was ok.

When he felt Akaya moving lower, Hiyoshi opened his eyes to a view that made his knees nearly give out. He caught himself and reached instinctively back to lean fully on the wall behind him. Shuddering so deeply that his entire body was shaking, he closed his eyes to shut out the smoldering look he was being given. Without hesitation, he nodded his head to Akaya’s silent request.

Akaya licked his lips once as Hiyoshi nodded and stilled the motion of his hand. After a moment he flicked his tongue over the tip of his dripping erection, taking in the taste unique to Hiyoshi. It seemed like an odd mix of green tea and sea weed, but it was by no means bad.

Keeping his eyes locked on Hiyoshi’s face he licked along the full underside of his length, making sure to flick his tongue over the tip before taking the whole thing in his mouth. Years of learning to control his gag reflex really paid off sometimes.

“Ah! Akaya!” Hiyoshi kept his eyes closed tightly, his hand coming back to cover his mouth to block any unwanted sounds. His first instinct was to overcome the feelings of pleasure coursing through him, but the second instinct, the more accommodating one, won over. It told him that this was okay, this was his brat. It told him to let go for once and feel.

Vaguely, Hiyoshi wondered how much experience the brat really did have. Judging from the confidence nearly radiating from him, not to mention how amazing this felt, he figured it had to be quite a lot. Then he realized he really didn’t want to think about that. Akaya with other people… What did it matter since the vital fact was that Akaya was now with him. More importantly, what could he do with these new feelings now that he was the one facing them? What could he do to make Akaya feel the same? “Akaya…” He ground out between muffled moans, “I don’t… want... to be the only one… to enjoy... this.”

Akaya loved the way his name sounded coming from Hiyoshi’s lips. It made him shiver and moan around the other man’s member. Pulling away to lick his lips he contemplated what they could do that wouldn't scare Hiyoshi off. "I am enjoying this, but if you want to do something else... I can, well, I can take you," he said quietly and flicked his finger over the other’s entrance to show exactly what he meant. "But it will hurt." They didn't have any lubrication other than the water, but he knew from experience it wouldn't be too bad if he went slow.

Hiyoshi almost didn’t hear what Akaya had said, too enthralled in the sensations being given to him; nevertheless, once Akaya touched him there, the words made sense and his body froze. Reluctantly but resolutely, he tugged Akaya back up so they were once again face to face. He gently kissed Akaya on the lips and said huskily, “One step at a time brat.” He was a little worried about Akaya being unsatisfied with him, but he honestly wasn’t ready for that. He began laying small tender kisses all over Akaya’s face while bringing a hand down to attempt pushing his jeans down. “You’re going to have to help me here…”

Akaya been expecting that, and in all honesty, it relieved him a bit. He wanted Hiyoshi’s first time not to hurt and he wanted it to be on a bed where he could worship the other’s body like it deserved.

Taking a step back from Hiyoshi and into the water, he tugged at the top of his jeans and pulled them down with some effort. Wet denim stuck to skin wonderfully. Once he finally got them to his ankles, he kicked them aside and paused, letting the other man look him over.

Hiyoshi watched amusedly as Akaya put on his little strip show under the streaming water. He was learning that his brat really liked attention. Looking him over, he couldn’t deny the little skip his heart made as his breath caught in his throat. Akaya was by no means a “brat” when it came to his physique. His body was toned in all the right places, but what still got to him the most was the little devious grin on his face. He wrapped his strong arms around the chibi demon, and dragged him back against his chest, laughing softly. “Thanks for the show.”

Akaya smiled as Hiyoshi pulled him close. There was nothing quite like the feel of skin on skin. He hummed a little 'you're welcome' and nuzzled Hiyoshi’s neck.

Hiyoshi just held him there for a moment, trying to get himself under some semblance of control as the feel of Akaya’s completely uncovered body against his brought on a whole new level of roughness to his voice. He leaned over so his chin was resting on Akaya’s shoulder as he spoke into his ear. “I’m sure you’ll tell me if I do anything wrong…” Tentatively, he brought his hand down to securely grasp Akaya’s erection and began to experimentally stroke him. He personally liked a harder grip, but was unsure of himself. It was hot and slick, and it was completely different from when he was doing it to himself.

"Wakashi..." Akaya said quietly, gasping in an almost gravely voice as the other boy’s fingers curled around him. "Nnn... damn," he purred contentedly and gripped tightly at Hiyoshi’s hips. "Harder..." he whispered, biting down on Hiyoshi’s ear lobe gently.

Hiyoshi couldn’t keep the satisfied smirk off his face as he tightened his grip and almost roughly squeezed and pulled at Akaya’s length, more the way he liked it, running his thumb over the head as Akaya had done to him earlier. The sounds Akaya made were almost enough to make him come right then. He buried his face in Akaya’s neck, breathing harshly, trying to concentrate on what he was doing.

Reaching between them, Akaya took Hiyoshi’s erection in his hand again and started stroking him in time with the way he was being stroked. He gasped and moaned, nuzzling Hiyoshi’s neck in return. "Gn... Feels good..."

Hiyoshi was starting to feel dizzy; his head was swimming. On the spur of the moment he leaned over to claim Akaya’s mouth wanting… He didn’t know what he wanted. He felt Akaya all around him, the movements on their members now jerky and hardly controlled. Akaya pulsed hotly in his hand. Soon Hiyoshi wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore. All he could comprehend was the wet heat and maddening caresses. Akaya was working him into a frenzy. Spikes of pleasure shot up his stomach as he arched into that hand one last time; mouth open and letting out a low guttural moan.

Akaya groaned loudly as Hiyoshi’s lips claimed his own. He could last a long time, but something about feeling Hiyoshi come in his hand, his whole body shaking, and that moan... oh that moan. He felt his own climax rush over him like the hot water of the shower, sending a shiver through his whole body. He let out a deep grunt as he felt his toes curl and every muscle in his body contracted as he spilled his own seed over their stomachs. It mixed with Hiyoshi’s until they were indistinguishable from each other. With a low groan he collapsed against Hiyoshi, using an arm on each side of Hiyoshi’s head to support his weight so he didn't squish the other man.

Once Hiyoshi felt he could move again without falling over, he wrapped his arms around Akaya and slowly walked them under the spray of now lukewarm water. He thought amusedly that the rest of his dorm mates would not be very happy to find all the hot water had been used up. It really didn’t matter though when he cared much more about a certain brat in his arms. He gently kissed Akaya’s nose as he maneuvered them to wash off the evidence of what just transpired. “We should get out of here,” he said softly, reaching around him to turn off the water.

When the water hit his heated skin Akaya hissed a little and squeezed his eyes shut. "Cold," he muttered, but his body got used to it quickly. "Yeah..." he agreed and ran his hands over Hiyoshi’s arms. It smelled like sex in there and he loved it, but he knew it would be best if they went back to Hiyoshi’s room. Then they could collapse and cuddle all they wanted.

Hiyoshi reluctantly let go of Akaya, and a bit unsteadily went to grab his towel. He quickly wiped himself off then ruffled it through Akaya’s hair, like one would a child. Only half dry, he put on his pants from earlier and gathered the rest of his things. He wanted to leave the shower room as quickly as possible before other people came in.

Akaya picked up his dripping clothing and wrung them out the best he could as Hiyoshi dried himself off. The towel on his head though surprised him and his eyes went wide for a moment before he relaxed and smiled at the other man. It felt good, being taken care of like that. He wrapped the towel around his waist and held his clothes in one hand as Hiyoshi pulled him along toward their room. He'd adopted it as his room now too; he spent more time there than he did in his own room anyway.

Once they arrived back at the room, Akaya dropped his clothes by the door and flopped down onto the futon, not caring that the towel fell to the floor before he got there.

Hiyoshi shook his head in amusement and grinned as he watched Akaya just walk right into his room as if it were his own. He took a moment to pick up both the clothes and towel Akaya had discarded on the floor in order to hang them over the drying rack near the window, not wanting to deal with puddles on his floor later. Taking off his now damp pants, he replaced them with his pajama pants and grabbed a fresh towel as he made his way over to the futon and Akaya.

“You’re going to make the pillows wet, brat.” Hiyoshi chuckled softly as he began drying off his own hair with the towel in hand while the other ran lightly down Akaya’s back, before bringing the towel to the back of Akaya’s head.

Akaya groaned a little and buried his face in his pillow even more as Hiyoshi ran his hand along his back. "Hmmm... That's ok. I go to bed with my hair wet all the time," he grumbled but didn't pull away from the towel on his head. He grudgingly sat up and turned to face Hiyoshi, folding his legs in front of him as he waited for the other to dry his hair more. He was obviously very, very comfortable with being naked in front of Hiyoshi and didn't even seem to notice that he was exposing himself by sitting like that.

Hiyoshi was trying very hard not to look or feel uncomfortable with the way Akaya was displaying himself. After all, they had just… yeah… he shouldn’t feel this embarrassed anymore. Not to mention, it should be illegal for a bratty chibi demon to look that sexy… err… cute, naked on his bed. Yeah, best not to think too much on that one.

“I was worried about my pillow, not your head.” Despite Akaya’s protest, Hiyoshi continued to towel off Akaya’s curly head. For some reason, he liked taking care of his brat, even if it was little things like this.

"That one is my pillow now," Akaya mumbled and closed his eyes as Hiyoshi dried his bangs, but as soon as he moved to a different area, he opened them again and resumed blatantly staring at the other mans chest and abs. He was not one to waste an opportunity to check out a beautifully toned body.

“I didn’t know you were so territorial about pillows.” Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at Akaya then chuckled when he saw him blatantly staring at his chest. Looked like he wasn’t the only one having problems keeping his eyes off the other. Tossing the towel in the dirty laundry hamper, he ran his hands through the damp but amazingly soft curls a few times, knowing the feeling would never grow old to him.

It was already the usual time he would be getting up to go for his morning jog, but he was still really tired and didn’t feel like leaving Akaya just yet. Still, he really shouldn’t skip out on his routine. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Hiyoshi regrettably informed, “I need to get ready to go on my jog.”

"I like that pillow," Akaya answered absently and let his eyes trace over the lines of Hiyoshi’s abs, but when the other mentioned leaving, his eyes snapped up to the others face. Immediately the little demon started pouting. "But I'm tired, I haven't slept since Thursday," he whined and scratched the back of his head, "Well, except that little nap we had earlier," he mumbled and maneuvered his way into Hiyoshi’s lap to keep him in place. "Stay? I'll go on a jog with you later, ok?"

Arms now full of pouting naked demon brat, Hiyoshi had trouble responding right away. He was about to just give in when… His eyes narrowed at the new piece of information and his grip tightened. “What do you mean you haven’t slept since Thursday? Earlier you told me you hadn’t slept MUCH.” He reached out one of his hands and brought Akaya’s chin to face him, “Why haven’t you been sleeping?”

Oops. So this was why Yanagi-senpai always told him consistency was important. Akaya turned his eyes away, trying to avoid looking into Hiyoshi’s. "I uh... I meant much err..." He finally sighed and met the other’s eyes when he realized he was too tired to think of a decent excuse. "I was worried..." he mumbled, then turned his eyes away again as a light blush crept across his cheeks.

Hiyoshi just sat there stone faced for a moment. That Akaya had worried about him so much that he couldn’t sleep made all reason leave him. Had he ever even see his brat blush before? The martial artist’s lips turned up into another genuine smile. He had a feeling his mouth would be sore later from the over-use of that particular hardly ever used facial expression.

Rolling them back on the bed, facing each other, Hiyoshi yawned tiredly before leaning forward to press his lips firmly and possessively against Akaya’s. “Mm... Let’s get some sleep.”

When Hiyoshi laid them down, Akaya nearly sighed in relief. It felt good, pressed up against the other man, completely naked. And when his lips were captured in that hot and… possessive kiss, his heart skipped a beat. He'd made the right decision in telling Hiyoshi his feelings.

"Yeah..." He said softly and closed his eyes, snuggling closer to Hiyoshi.

With a smile still on his lips, Hiyoshi pulled the blankets over them and hugged Akaya close. It has been a very long and stressful last couple of days. Closing his eyes and running his hands through Akaya’s hair, he couldn’t help but think it was all worth it. As Akaya’s breathing began to even out, there was a wondrous feeling of content knowing he was the reason for it. Enjoying the warmth against him, his own body slowly and gratefully began to relax and fall asleep.

 

Journal: Kirihara

I told Wakashi that I liked him... It was really hard cause I thought he was going to hate me for it or something but instead he kinda looked like he was gonna cry. Then we ended up jacking each other off in the shower. My clothes got soaked, but it was great. He's so sexy and he may be new to sex and all that, but he's pretty good.

You know... I hadn't even realized that I'd stopped dating/fucking people when I started hanging out with Wakashi. I mean I went on a couple dates but they all ended up going bad. I even forgot I had dates. It's so weird to think about... I guess I just sorta stopped caring bout that kinda thing or something. I mean, I still like sex A LOT but... when I think about it now I keep thinking about Wakashi... but that's supposed to happen when you like someone right? You're supposed to think about just them like that? I dunno, it still seems so boring to me only doing anything with one person, but it felt so good with him that... I... I don't know… I'm being stupid again.

I mean I've dated people casually and stuff... but I haven't liked someone before... cept fukubuchou who I've decided doesn't count. I don't know the first thing about dating someone…


	11. Chapter 11

Hiyoshi and Sanada had just arrived back to the dorm. Hiyoshi was still in his gi and was looking forward to a nice long shower. They had just finished another long sparing session. He used the term ‘sparing’ lightly since it was more like an intense training session with Sanada playing kendo boot camp sergeant. Despite that; however, he was genuinely starting to enjoy these sessions. It felt good to be receiving a real workout again, and feeling as though he was getting something out of it. He wondered absently sometimes if Sanada would ever be interested in learning about Kobujutsu style martial arts. ‘Heh, even if he was, he probably wouldn’t be willing to give up sergeant status,’ he thought with a smirk.

Sanada ran a hand through his hair that was somewhat damp from sweat. He had yet to change out of his gi, having decided to wait until he'd had a shower. "You've gotten better," he stated. Hiyoshi had managed to get a hit in on him for the first time and it actually took work for Sanada to avoid the others attacks now.

Hiyoshi felt a small amount of pride at the rare compliment. Still slightly bitter about it, taking instruction from Sanada had taken some getting used to. His constructive criticism tended to sound more like insults, but he’d learned it was well meaning.

Akaya stretched his hands over his head and walked happily into the common room of his boyfriend’s dorm. He was going to spend the rest of the afternoon with Hiyoshi just hanging out. He'd already finished his homework so the other wouldn't be able to bug him about it.

When he walked in, his eyes immediately picked out the other boy who appeared to be alone. Grinning, he ran over to him and kissed him quickly, looking quite pleased with himself. "Hey, you look good in a gi— ” Suddenly, he felt the familiar burn of his fukubuchou’s eyes on his back and he spun around to face the larger man. "S-Sanada-fukubuchou!" He yelped and promptly stood rim rod straight. "W-what are you doing here?"

"Do I need permission to be in my own dorms common room?" Sanada snapped irritated. That was not something he had wanted to see.

"N-No sir! I uh--" Akaya turned his gaze to Hiyoshi pleadingly.

Hiyoshi had turned slightly red at Akaya’s sudden appearance and kiss, but he was starting to become used to it. No matter how much he tried, discretion was never going to be something his brat could comprehend. But, when Akaya noticed Sanada’s presence, his entire body language changed. Interesting, this was the first time he could remember seeing them together since middle school.

“What are you looking at me for, brat?” Hiyoshi answered to Akaya’s shiny pleading eyes. This was amusing. He turned towards Sanada again. “Sanada-san, when would it be convenient for you to meet next?”

Jerk. Akaya glared at him for a moment before turning his attention back to Sanada.

"Whenever you have time to practice. I'm not on the tennis team right now so I have no set time to practice." Sanada crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at his kohai, "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing!" Akaya stood stiff again and slowly moved himself so he was standing behind Hiyoshi.

“I’ll be free tomorrow evening around five.” Hiyoshi answered casually as he tried extracting Akaya out from behind him. He’d never seen Akaya act this way before. Sanada was one of his over-protective senpai that Akaya was always going on about that he apparently had wrapped around his little finger. So why was he acting like he was terrified of him?

Sanada’s eyes narrowed at Akaya, but he turned his attention back to Hiyoshi. "That will work." He said simply and waited until Hiyoshi was out of the way before grabbing his kohai by the back of the shirt and pulling him over. "Akaya," he grumbled warningly, earning a little scared yelp, "Apologize." He turned Akaya so he was facing Hiyoshi and moved his hand to the back of his head, forcing him to bow to Hiyoshi.

"S-sorry for kissing you in public," Akaya muttered, earning a little 'thwap' on the back of the head from Sanada.

It wasn't an ideal apology, but it was suitable. Sanada moved his hand back to his side and let Akaya scamper over to hide behind Hiyoshi again. "I'll see you for our next training session," he said and turned to take his leave.

That had been… interesting, remarkable even. Hiyoshi was in slight aw of Sanada now. He had just earned his ultimate respect on a whole new level. He was able to make Akaya apologize, and even acknowledge what he was apologizing for? With a fond smirk, Hiyoshi dragged Akaya back out from behind him, but still held him against him. He whispered in his ear, “It’s alright, brat.”

Hiyoshi thought he might need to ask Sanada a different kind of advice next time they met. A somewhat wicked grin came to his face. “Sanada-san?” he called out, as he turned to leave. “Akaya and I were going to get something to eat, would you like to join us?”

Akaya had regained his smile as Hiyoshi reassured him and kept him close. Maybe things weren't so bad after all, but then the other man spoke again and his smile disappeared to be replaced by a look that said he felt betrayed. "We were?" he squeaked.

Sanada paused and turned to face the two younger boys with a raised eyebrow. "I suppose food wouldn't be so bad."

Ignoring Akaya, Hiyoshi nodded at Sanada’s acceptance. “If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to take a quick shower first. Shall we meet you back here in a half hour?”

"Half an hour would be sufficient," Sanada nodded and walked away to go take his shower.

Akaya looked between his retreating back and Hiyoshi with a scared look on his face. "H-How could you!?" he whispered to the other man quietly so Sanada wouldn't hear him. He growled to himself and seemed to be debating something internally before he just threw his arms up in frustration and headed toward their room. "Fine, but I'm taking a shower with you."

Trying to keep himself from grinning at Akaya’s outburst, Hiyoshi hurried after him. Once inside his room, he closed the door behind them and began to collect his shower supplies. “I don’t see the problem. I only asked him to eat with us. Isn’t Sanada-san your idol senpai or something? And no, you’re not taking a shower with me.”

"Am too," Akaya said sticking his tongue out at Hiyoshi, "And you don't understand. It’s fukubuchou! He's... he's like the... I don't know! He's fukubuchou! You gotta be really careful 'round him or he'll 'tarundoru' you and make you run laps."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes at that assessment. Sanada wasn’t that bad. “You know if you come with me, there’ll be more of a chance it’ll take longer. Do you really want to keep your fukubuchou waiting?” Feeling a little guilty, he added, “How about we go to a Yakiniku place I know you’ll like?”

Akaya hated it when Hiyoshi was right. "Okay, fine. I'll wait here, but hurry up, ok?" He sat down on the other man’s bed and held 'his' pillow to his chest. "Yakiniku sounds really good." He looked a bit like a pouting child.

Hiyoshi placed a quick kiss on a pouting Akaya’s nose. “I’ll only be a minute, so don’t break anything while I’m gone this time. And no, no matter how many times you look, you won’t find any porn.” Chuckling a bit, he left.

Akaya glared at him half heartedly and cursed. He had been planning on checking for porn again, just to see if he'd maybe caught Hiyoshi off guard. It just didn't make sense, damn it. With a frustrated sigh, he flipped over onto his side and squeezed the pillow against his chest harder while starring at nothing in particular.

It only took Hiyoshi about fifteen minutes later to get back with a towel wrapped around his shoulders and a worn out pair of jeans on. For once, it looked like Akaya hadn’t moved from where he’d left him. He went over and knelt in front of him, brushing some hair out of his face. “Do I need to have your brain examined? You shouldn’t stare at walls too long; they might start to stare back.”

Akaya blinked a couple times as Hiyoshi appeared in front of him. "I was bored," he murmured and yawned. The truth was he'd fallen asleep with his eyes open. It was a little something he'd started mastering for school.

Shaking his head, Hiyoshi stood up and toweled off his hair, not bothering to comb it, then went to pick out a shirt from the closet. He turned back toward Akaya who hadn’t moved from his bed a minute later. “Ready to go?”

Akaya nodded and got up, putting his pillow back in place. He then walked up to Hiyoshi and wrapped his arms around him before he could put his shirt back on. "You're warm," he mumbled and kissed the bare collar bone.

“It’s the showers’ fault. You know I’m naturally an ice cube.” Hiyoshi answered dead-pan while holding him back for a moment. “C’mon, if we don’t go, your fukubuchou is going to make us run laps, right?” He was now almost regretting making the dinner invitation, Akaya felt nice against him and was in one of his less rowdy moods.

Akaya nodded and leaned up to kiss him quickly on the lips before stepping away to let Hiyoshi put on his shirt. "Yeah, he assigns a lot of laps. He's given me 300 before! I almost died!! It took me all day and I had to skip all my classes and everything. Then I couldn't walk the next day. It sucked."

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at that. Atobe had never been that bad. Although, he made up for it by being a pain the ass in other areas, but he never would have let them miss classes unless there were private tutors arranged ahead of time.

Shirt on, wallet in pocket, they left the room to go meet Sanada in the common area. He was hoping by watching the two of them together, he could see how Sanada managed to rule Akaya with an iron fist while still maintaining his god like status in his brat’s eyes.

Sanada stood staring at the clock in the common room. They were late. His eye twitched and he continued to watch the seconds tick by. Didn't they know it was rude to invite someone then make them wait?

Walking swiftly down the hallway with Akaya right in back of him, Hiyoshi saw that Sanada was already there and waiting for them. Hiyoshi bowed quickly. “We apologize, Sanada-san for making you wait. I know a good Yakiniku place not far from here. Would that be alright with you?”   
Akaya bowed his head apologetically to Sanada who just uncrossed his arms and nodded. "Yakiniku is fine." He knew his kohai had a fondness for it, so he didn't question it, even though it was by no means his favorite food.

"Nee, fukubuchou, what kind of sauce are you going to use?" Akaya asked, letting a grin spread across his face. It wasn't often he got to go to Yakiniku with his vice-captain.

"None of your business. Let's go," Sanada mumbled and waited for Hiyoshi to lead the way with a slightly softer expression than he'd had moments ago.

Akaya’s enthusiasm was infectious and Hiyoshi could already feel his body relaxing. ‘This will prove to be an interesting evening,’ he thought. He lead the way out of the building and then off campus, watching as Akaya slowly made even Sanada-san visibly loosen up a bit.

They arrived at Jojoen, a slightly upscale Yakiniku specialty restaurant known for its beef. It had both traditional and westernized booths available as well as your own person grill built into the table.

Sanada and Akaya both paused to stare up at the sign for the restaurant. "Jojoen?" Akaya muttered in awe. He'd heard about this place, but he'd never been. His features lit up and he grabbed an arm of both of his companions and dragged them inside. "Table for three!" He announced happily.

Sanada just rolled his eyes; he was far too used to the younger boy.

Hiyoshi had planned on bringing Akaya here after discovering his love for Yakiniku, and now seemed to be a good time. With Sanada-san there, Akaya might actually attempt to behave himself.

The waitress came by and asked if they preferred smoking or non-smoking which Hiyoshi requested the latter, but gave the others a questioning glance when they were given a seating option.

"Tatami," Sanada confirmed and led the way behind the waitress, Akaya still attached to his arm like a bouncy seaweed-headed leech.

They were brought to a semi-private room, where there was a set-up of tatami mats and floor cushions. The table was long with a grill built into the center of it. Without bothering to look at the menu, Hiyoshi turned to the waitress and asked for the group beef and vegetable special. After she respectfully bowed and walked away, Hiyoshi pulled a hyper-active Akaya into a sitting position next to him and explained the restaurant’s specialties.

Sanada sat down across from them, purposefully blocking the seat so Akaya had to sit by Hiyoshi. It would be easier to keep an eye on him that way and he could also use the opportunity to observe the two’s interaction.

Akaya listened to Hiyoshi’s explanation with an honestly curious expression that made Sanada relax. He'd missed the brat, even if he would never admit it out loud. It felt good to be back and listening to the child’s idle banter. It kept things from being completely silent and prevented him from having to talk.

It was odd to see Sanada in a relaxed atmosphere for once where Hiyoshi was not being lectured, pummeled, or being given orders every other minute. There was never much actual social interaction between them, despite that they saw each other on a fairly regular basis. He contributed this to the fact that neither of them were inherently social people.

Hiyoshi felt the corners of his mouth rising as he spoke, having Akaya’s full attention on him. It always amused him how Akaya had the attention span of a fly, except for when it involved something he was genuinely interested in. You could literally see his energy pouring out as if he were about to burst out from his seat at any moment. Hiyoshi lifted his left hand to softly play and scratch at hair on the base of Akaya’s neck, as was his unconsciously habit now. “Calm down, brat,” he chuckled with a small grin, “The food will be here soon. It’s not going anywhere.”

Akaya leaned into the other’s touch and closed his eyes, temporarily forgetting the presence of Sanada and just enjoying the feel of being pet. "Alright," he mumbled and leaned against him, "But I am really, really hungry..."

Sanada raised an eyebrow at the way the two were acting, but didn't say anything. He knew they were somewhat seeing each other (which was a miracle in itself) but he never expected them to be so... open about it. Though for the two of them this appeared to be normal behavior. Well, as long as Akaya was happy.

Hiyoshi was about to reply to Akaya’s adorable response when he noticed Sanada observing them. Mortified that he’d forgotten even for a moment that they were in public, he quickly extracted his hand and pulled completely away from Kirihara, silently lecturing himself for not maintaining a more respectful distance in front of company.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Hiyoshi tried to distract from his embarrassment by asking Sanada conversationally if he had any intention to take part in the martial arts tournament approaching at the end of next month. He had only just recently decided to take part himself, but hadn’t yet had the chance to tell Akaya or anyone else. No one but Choutarou would even care to go anyway.

Akaya let out a whine as the petting stopped and looked to Hiyoshi with a pouting expression, "Why'd you stop?!" But before he got a response Hiyoshi was asking Sanada about some martial arts tournament. Akaya was about to tune out the Dojo-nerd talk when he realized Hiyoshi was going to be competing. "Hey! You're going to join the competition? Can I come watch?" He asked excitedly.

Sanada could have laughed at how quickly Hiyoshi tried to act more 'polite' and reserved. "No, the only thing I could enter for is kendo and I'd rather not run into my father who's probably judging."

Hiyoshi nodded to Sanada empathetically. He was only too well familiar with the circumstances, having had his own father judge him on many occasions. One of the reasons he was actually looking forward to this tournament was specifically because his father would not be there, already having a previous commitment in Okinawa.

Hiyoshi turned back to Akaya. “I guess… If you want.” He was bit taken back by the response. “But you’ll probably get bored. Have you ever been to a martial arts tournament before?” He thought it would be nice to have Akaya there, the thought pleased him, but he didn’t see why Akaya would be interested in going.

"My sister dragged me to one when I was little so she could look at the boys," Akaya explained simply and started playing with whatever he could find on the table, "but I wanna see you compete. You'll 'gekokujou' right?" He turned to smile at Hiyoshi with his big ear to ear childish grin.

Sanada glanced at his easily distracted kohai then turned his attention back to Hiyoshi. "I would like to attend as well. I'll keep him in line," he said gesturing to Akaya with a nod, "As I assume you're going to be rather busy most of the time."

It was that smile Hiyoshi couldn’t help but grin back at, and hearing Akaya use his own favorite phrase was rather charming. He was going to work three times harder now to show him just exactly how much he could ‘gekokujou’ at this tournament. “Of course, brat.” He said and ruffled Akaya’s hair.

In answer to Sanada, he added mostly for Akaya’s benefit, “That would be appreciated since I’ll have to arrive early for check-in, and will most likely be helping out around the tournament whenever I’m not competing.” He gave his characteristic smirk and thumbed towards Akaya, “and I don’t know if I trust him alone in a crowded room of martial artists with dangerous weapons.”

"There's gonna be weapons?!" Akaya’s eyes lit up with a devious glint, "Can I get nun chucks? Oh oh! Or shurikens?" He grabbed Hiyoshi’s arm and looked at him with excitement practically radiating off of him.

Sanada sighed and nodded. "Don't worry," he mumbled, ignoring Akaya completely at the moment. "I have a lot of experience with keeping him out of trouble."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Of course there are going to be weapons and NO.” The idea of Akaya getting a hold of weapons was a scary… scary thought. The last thing he needed was for his brat to find out he already owned both of those plus many others. He tiredly disentangled Akaya’s hand from around his arm, still trying to put a respectable distance between them.

“I would still like to train for Kendo once or twice a week, but it may be difficult next month due to the tournament. I usually take two or three months to choose my weapons and prepare my kata. Since I only have a month this time, I won’t have any time for much else.” Realistically, he wasn’t going to have time for anything else at all, except maybe sleep. “I may even take a few days to go home and prepare.”

The disappointment was obvious on Akaya’s face but he stayed silent. He wasn't going to get to spend much time with Hiyoshi it seemed, but he knew this was what Hiyoshi really wanted to do so he didn't complain. Even if Hiyoshi was busy during the day he knew he'd have to come back to sleep, and when he did, Akaya would be waiting.

"That's alright. Take the time off if you need. We'll continue when you're done," Sanada said, picking up the glass of water on the table and drinking it slowly. He didn't like Hiyoshi missing practice, but it was necessary for him to prepare and Sanada could sympathies with that.

When Hiyoshi saw the look of disappointed cross Akaya’s face, a new mixed feeling of both happiness and guilt assaulted him. It was amazing; all the new emotions the brat had been making him feel lately. He nodded in thanks to Sanada and discreetly took Akaya’s hand under the table and squeezed it, but let go just as quickly when the waitress chose that moment to come by and turn the burner on, placing the raw meat around the table.

Akaya smiled widely as he felt Hiyoshi squeeze his hand. As soon as the waitress was gone he took it in his own again and squeezed it back. "It all looks so good!" He laughed happily.

Sanada nodded in thanks to the waitress and waited a moment for the grill to heat up before setting a couple pieces of meat on it. He frowned as he looked over to see a couple of the waitresses giggling and whispering about them. Damn annoying women. The sound of their laughter was like nails on a chalk board.

Completely oblivious to why the waitresses around them were being so annoying, Hiyoshi chose to ignore them. Unlike the last time they had gone out for Yakinuku, Hiyoshi had no intention of starting a food war in front of Sanada-san. He let go of Akaya’s hand and politely only took a few pieces of meat and vegetables, placing them on the burner.

“When is your first tennis match, Akaya? You’ve been practicing a lot, but you haven’t actually told me when your first tournament is.” It was only fair. If Akaya would be attending his tournament, than he should go to his tennis matches, he wanted to anyway.

"Eh? Oh, I don't know," Akaya mumbled as he took a few pieces of meat and arranged them on his little corner of the grill. "Are you gonna come watch me play?" He asked with a big hopeful grin. He wanted Hiyoshi to see all that he was capable of. In other words, he wanted to show off.

"Akaya, you need to keep track of these kinds of things," Sanada grumbled. He remembered the younger boy’s bad habits far too well. He couldn't count how many times he or Jackal had to go pick Akaya up because he'd forgotten about the tournament.

"Relax, fukubuchou, buchou will say something if we're gonna have a tournament," Akaya waved it off and reached over to steal one of Sanada’s pieces of meat that had just finished cooking.

Sanada glared at Akaya and gave him a look that dared him to try it again, though he knew he wouldn't do anything if the other stole more meat. He was used to it and glared on reflex and principle.

“You better find out when it is. I doubt your buchou forgives absentmindedness.” Jiroh was the only one he could remember ever being let off the hook for being late or forgetting tournaments, but that couldn’t be helped. It was Hiyoshi’s opinion that Atobe-buchou always had a soft spot for the narcoleptic energizer bunny, but then, who didn’t?

With a smirk, Hiyoshi added. “I don’t know if I’ll go. It depends whether or not you can tell me when it is and if the competition is worth seeing. Don’t want to be bored after all.” Of course he was going to go, but he didn’t want Akaya to know how much he was looking forward to it. Even though he didn’t play anymore, he still enjoyed watching.

"I'll find out from buchou soon, okay?" Akaya assured happily, not minding Sanada’s glare as he stole something from Hiyoshi’s side of the grill.

Using the same method Akaya had used on him before, Hiyoshi reacted immediately by stealing his piece of meat back right off Akaya’s chopsticks and placing it in his own mouth.

Akaya’s jaw dropped but his face quickly found itself contorting into a pout, "Wa-ka-shiiiiii, that was mine! I stole it, fair and square."

Sanada could have laughed at how quickly the tables had turned on Akaya. It was interesting to see someone who could match him so evenly.

“Eat your own food, brat,” Hiyoshi mumbled amusedly, trying to cover his smile by saying it into his drink. Was Akaya trying to embarrass him on purpose? Acting this cute… err… immature in front of Sanada? It was becoming difficult keeping his upright serious composure.

"But that's boring," Akaya mumbled, but did as he was told and started eating meat from his own side of the grill.

Sanada raised an eyebrow and gave Hiyoshi an approving look, most people didn't know how to handle the little demon, but the other man seemed to handle him easily.

Hiyoshi was surprised by Akaya’s almost too easy forfeit. It was probably because Sanada was there. He finished off another piece of meat and his last helping of vegetables before discreetly moving his last piece of meat over to Akaya’s side of the grill. He was full anyway. The busy day and always good but exhausting work out with Sanada finally caught up with him, he was ready to get back to his room and sleep.

Akaya’s eyes went a bit wider and his pout disappeared as Hiyoshi slid the meat over to him. He grinned happily and waited for it to finish cooking before dipping it in the sauce and popping it into his mouth.

Sanada watched the motion, but didn't comment. The former Hyotei boy made Akaya happy and as long as he didn't hurt him he saw no reason to interfere. When the check came he took it and walked over to the register to pay for all three of them without a word.

Hiyoshi was trying to hold back a yawn when he noticed Sanada get up to pay the bill. He had planned on paying for them; especially since the place was probably more expensive than they were used to. Not wanting to show disrespect to the upperclassmen or hurt his pride, he just leaned back with a disgruntled look and didn’t say anything.

Akaya noticed the look on the other man’s face and frowned. "Don't worry, he always does that," he said simply and finished off his water, "So don't feel bad or nothing. He likes being the one to pay for some reason." Not that he was complaining. He'd had many free meals on Sanada’s tab, but the older man still refused to let him pay.

Not feeling the urge to argue, Hiyoshi just grunted in response and stood up to make his way toward Sanada and the exit.

Akaya frowned and followed along after him, brushing his hand against the other boy’s gently and subtly.

Sanada didn't wait for them to catch up before walking out the front doors of the restaurant and starting back toward the school.

Hiyoshi noticed Sanada go off ahead of them and wondered if he had somehow managed to insult him. Sanada had a lot of odd mannerisms that confused him. Feeling Akaya at his side, he continued after him, back towards campus.

Akaya smiled at Sanada’s back and took Hiyoshi’s hand fully in his own. He had the greatest fukubuchou ever.

Hiyoshi’s eyes went wide when Akaya took his hand. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t held hands outside before, but… there were still a lot of people out, and Sanada was with them. He squeezed Akaya’s hand once then let go, picking up his pace to try and catch up with Sanada.

Akaya pouted as his hand was released and Hiyoshi rushed way, did he do something wrong? They'd held hands outside before, why couldn't they do it now? "Naa, Wakashi," he whined and tried taking the other boy’s hand in his own again. "What's wrong?"

This was embarrassing, but Akaya didn’t seem to get it. He slowed his pace, still outside of Sanada’s hearing range. “We’re in public, and Sanada-san is here,” he grunted, still looking forward and keeping his face expressionless as they finally caught up with Sanada. He felt Akaya’s hand come up to meet his again, but did not hold it back, hoping Akaya would understand. He was still trying to get used to the idea that Akaya and him were dating, they didn’t need to be so public about it.

Akaya looked rather irritated, but didn't let go of Hiyoshi’s hand, instead he held it tighter and reached forward with his free hand to hold Sanada’s hand as well.

Sanada looked down at his hand then at Akaya’s face. His kohai was grinning like he'd just thought of the greatest thing in the world and he couldn't help but roll his eyes. He didn't hold the other boy’s hand back, but he didn't pull away.

That was too much. He was already having trouble, but there was no way he was going to hold Akaya’s hand while he was also holding Sanada’s. That was just wrong. Wait. Why was Akaya holding Sanada’s hand anyway? With an angry glare, he tried pulling away, but when the brat just held on tighter he yanked it back roughly.

“I’m going to my dorm. Thank you, Sanada-san, for dinner. I hope you’ll let me return the favor sometime.” He turned to leave, fuming internally.

"Oi! Wakashi," Akaya snapped, frowning as the other’s hand was ripped from his. "What the hell is the matter with you?" He had just been trying to be nice and make it so Hiyoshi didn't feel all awkward, but now he had the nerve to be mad? Bastard.

Sanada stopped and watched the two with a deep frown but opted to stay out of it. He had his own set of problems; he didn't need to deal with these two as well.

What was the matter with HIM? He wasn’t the one who was trying to hold hands with two guys at once. Maybe Sanada was used to that (he cringed at that mental image) but it was definitely something he wasn’t going to be apart of. He was aware that Sanada had been Akaya’s first crush, but he hadn’t cared (other than being appalled) until this moment. Glaring back, he replied tersely, “Nothing is wrong with me, brat. You’re the one who is obviously having difficulties deciding who you want to walk with.” He regretted saying it the minute it came out, but it was too late now. Turning back around, he resumed his fast pace walking toward the dorm.

Growling, Akaya grabbed Hiyoshi’s arm and spun him around to face him again. "Oi, you're the one who didn't want to walk with me! You jerk! I was just trying to make it so you didn't feel all embarrassed," he said, raising his voice, not caring for one second that people were starting to stop and stare at them.

Sanada sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. At least all the attention wasn't on him. He'd go home if he wasn't worried about having to break the two up if their little spat got more hands on. None of the people in the area could handle Akaya in bloodshot, let alone demon mode.

Embarrassment making his anger worse, Hiyoshi tried to untangle himself from Akaya again and replied in a cold low tone, “I didn’t know I needed to be holding your hand in order to walk with you. Are you that much of a brat? You thought by holding hands with Sanada too it would be LESS embarrassing for me?” This was ridiculous, and he was tired. Looking around, he noticed other people had stopped to look at them. Couldn’t people learn to mind their own damn business!? “Let go. I’m leaving.”

Akaya’s eyes tinged pink and he took Hiyoshi’s wrist and dragged him toward the school. "Fine! We'll fucking settle this when we get back then!" He yelled and tightened his grip on Hiyoshi’s wrist.

Sanada frowned and followed them at a discreet distance. He didn't want to be associated with the two rambunctious kohai, but he also wasn't going to leave them alone to beat each other up.

Shit. Hiyoshi knew that look. He was about to tell Akaya that he hadn’t invited him up to HIS room, but thankfully still had the peace of mind to keep it in. Completely forgetting about Sanada, he let himself be dragged back to campus, resolved to keeping his mouth shut until they were somewhere private. He could already feel the headache coming on. This was not how he had envisioned the evening going.

Akaya basically threw Hiyoshi’s door open and stormed in, pulling Hiyoshi behind him. As soon as they were clear of the door, he slammed it shut and turned his glare on the other man. "There! No one to be embarrassed in front of! Not like anyone fucking cares what we do anyway!"

Outside of the door, Sanada stood patiently and listened for any signs of trouble.

Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, Hiyoshi listened to Akaya’s rant before starting his own. “I care what we do! I wasn’t shoving you away or ignoring you. Excuse me for trying to show respect to the people around us, including your fukubuchou! I don’t appreciate being forced into uncomfortable situations, which you seem to delight in doing to me.”

"Well sorry if I like showing people how I feel, you emotionally constipated ass!" He yelled and kicked Hiyoshi’s desk chair. "Sanada-fukubuchou doesn't care that I was holding your hand! That's why he walked ahead of us, so we could hold hands! If you don't want to hold my hand then just say so! I thought that was something you were supposed to do when you like someone, but whatever." He ran a hand through his hair as his eyes got a little more pink.

“How the hell am I supposed to know what Sanada-san’s intentions are? Then why were you holding hands with him? How many other people do you ‘like’ enough to hold hands with in public? Apparently I’m too boring and emotionally lacking to be enough. Should I just change my personality and principles in order to go out with you?” At this point it was mostly his insecurities talking, but he didn’t care. If Akaya couldn’t get used to the way he was, then this would always be a problem. He closed his eyes and punched the wall behind him with the back of his fist.

"I was holding hands with him so people wouldn't stare as much, idiot! He doesn't care. I used to do it when I was younger all the time! You think I still like him?! Well I don't! I like you! You moron!! You're not boring or I wouldn't be with you in the first place! You're fun and cute and I want you, because you're you, you stupid mushroom!" He was almost panting from all the yelling, but he was starting to wear himself out and lose his anger, but he wasn't going to let it go just yet.

Hiyoshi knocked his head back hard against the wall a few times, which was probably counter productive to his headache. “I don’t know how to get used to public displays of affection.” Moving forward away from the wall, he tentatively walked toward Akaya and stopped right in front of him. He didn’t know if Akaya would lash out at him or not, but figured/hoped he could handle it. Being close to Akaya always helped him to calm down, even when he was frustrated with him. “You’re not a kid anymore. I like you … Of course I don’t like it when you hold hands with other people. Isn’t that normal?”

Akaya watched Hiyoshi approach, wondering if he was going to hit him or something, but when he just stood there and watched him he felt all the rest of his anger drain out of him. "I know I'm not... I... I don't know what's normal... I've never done this before. You know that..." He brought a hand up to scratch at his head and tangle in his own curly hair.

“I don’t know what’s normal either.” Hiyoshi reached out and took Akaya’s hand in his, the same way Akaya had been trying to do earlier. He brought the hand up to his lips and lightly kissed the back of it once. “All I know is that you’re driving me crazy. I don’t know how to stop…” He sighed, not knowing how to finish that thought. How the hell was he supposed to deal with Akaya being affectionate to everyone when he couldn’t even stand it when he held hands with Sanada?

With a little smile, Akaya squeezed Hiyoshi’s hand and set his other hand on the other man’s hip. "Then don't stop," he said softly and pressed their lips together.

Surprised, but not at all unhappy with this turn of events, Hiyoshi kissed him back. “Mm… and I’m not cute.” He grumbled out between the soft kisses. His free hand ran up and down along Akaya’s back in an easy slide.

"Yes you are. You're a cute fungi," Akaya grinned devilishly and slowly walked forward, pushing Hiyoshi back, until he was up against the door. He bent a little and pressed their lips together a bit more forcefully.

When he heard the thump against the door, Sanada raised an eyebrow and walked off toward his room. He really did not want to think about what the two were doing in there.

“Am not...” Hiyoshi replied grumpily as Akaya claimed his lips again. Really, Akaya distracted him far too much and far too easily for what was healthy. He could feel their hands still tightly clasped between them as he let his other hand relax on Akaya’s hip. He pushed himself back against the other boy and continued to allow him control over the quickly turning far from chaste kiss.

Akaya slipped his hand up from Hiyoshi’s hip to explore his abs under his shirt. "You totally are," he smiled and moved to kiss and nip at his neck. "Nn... but you're hot too..." he purred.

Hiyoshi smirked and let his head fall back against the door as his neck was being seductively attacked. “Heh…You’re one-hundred percent brat. Devious, adorable, idiotic, sexy brat.” The word sexy had been whispered, as if he was embarrassed to have said the word (which he was). He let himself relax against the door as he was completely encompassed by the warm body in front of him.

The words made Akaya shiver and groan happily. "I'm not a brat, but I'll take everything else," he purred and licked his way up to Hiyoshi’s ear and nibbled at the lobe lightly. He could handle the idiotic thing if that meant he got to be devious, adorable, and sexy. "You drive me crazy too," he whispered huskily into his ear. "I don't know how, but I can't help but want you near me."

Then they were both idiots. A shiver went up Hiyoshi’s spine when the words were whispered in his ear. “I wonder if it’s a sign of insanity that I have similar feelings to a chibi demon?” He chuckled before turning his head to capture Akaya’s lips with his own in a slow lazy kiss, grinning against them. The evening he had imagined earlier was definitely back on track again.

"Mmm..." Akaya moaned into the kiss and rolled his hips against Hiyoshi’s. "Probably, but... nn... Sometimes crazy can be fun," he purred and started tugging his boyfriend’s shirt off.

“I think… this kind of fun…” Hiyoshi let out a low moan as his hips came in contact with Akaya’s again and lifted his arms so that Akaya could remove his shirt “...Can be dangerous.”

"Nnn... Definitely..." Akaya whispered against the other’s lips and tugged off his shirt before moving down to kiss all over Hiyoshi’s chest and abs. He kneeled and started unbuttoning the other’s pants with a devious little grin, but his eyes looked uneasy like he was asking for permission to continue.

Hiyoshi had been disappointed when Akaya’s lips had left his, but sucked in his breath when Akaya’s breath hit his lower abs and stomach. When he saw what Akaya was attempting to do, he felt conflicted. He didn’t like the idea of Akaya giving him something that he himself was unsure he could return, but… This wasn’t the first time Akaya had attempted this and he didn’t want to push him away again. Deciding to let Akaya do as he pleased, he nodded his head once, making sure to show no weakness in his gaze.

Akaya smiled appreciatively, undid Hiyoshi’s pants, and tugged them down, exposing the other’s erection. He knew his boyfriend was probably not ready to go all the way yet, but he wanted to make him feel good, even if he didn't get anything in return. Without hesitation, he started licking and sucking at the dripping tip of Hiyoshi’s length, keeping his eyes fixed on the other’s face to see his reactions.

When the cold air hit his erection, Hiyoshi’s first instinct was to close his legs, but when he felt Akaya’s mouth over him… “Fuck!” His head immediately slammed back against the door and his hand came up to cover his mouth. Damn… It was different than the last time in the shower… The variation in temperature from the cold air to the heat of Akaya’s mouth surrounding him felt incredible. His eyes were starting to glaze over as his breath became quicker and he had to reach behind and grasp the locked doorknob to steady himself.

Akaya smiled before he took the head into his mouth and teased it with his skilled tongue a bit. The reactions he got from Hiyoshi were perfect. Growing impatient, he took the whole length into his mouth and moaned around him, knowing just how good it would feel.

All Hiyoshi could do was let out tiny moans and grunts through a covered mouth as Akaya continued to make his mind go completely blank with nothing but sensation. His knees trembled at a particular moment when he felt more than heard a moan over his now painfully hard member. He opened his eyes to see Akaya’s head bobbing up and down slowly, and couldn’t stop a harsh shudder go through his body as their eyes connected.

If his mouth hadn't been occupied already, Akaya would have said his lover’s name and kissed him hungrily, but he could do it later. Right now his goal was to push him over the edge and make him cry out so loudly that his hand wouldn't be able to muffle it anymore.

It was taking all of Hiyoshi’s will power not to thrust into that hot mouth and he knew he wasn’t going to last long. Using the hand covering his mouth, he tried to push his brat away, not trusting his voice enough to warn him out loud of his impending release. Not even knowing if the message got through before it became too much, his head tilted up and he arched his back. Biting his bottom lip hard, he almost drew blood as he came. He body trembled with relief as he slumped back.

Akaya refused to pull away when Hiyoshi urged him to, because he could tell why the other was trying to stop him. He could feel it under his tongue and hands. Thus, it was no surprise when the hot salty liquid filled his mouth. He was used to this, and instead of choking or pulling away, he swallowed and milked Hiyoshi for all he was worth, greedily taking as much of the liquid as he could as the aftershocks shook the other man. Once he was done, Akaya stood and pulled Hiyoshi to him, supporting his weight as he tried to catch his breath.

Senses heightened, Hiyoshi could feel all too clearly Akaya’s warm body holding his as he tried to get his breathing under control. He leaned his weight on Akaya, not trusting his knees to completely support him. His face was buried in Akaya neck, and he moaned as he felt one last tremor go through him. ‘Fuck, that was amazing,’ was the first thought that went through his head once he could properly form a coherent thought.

There weren't many other things that were this satisfying and relaxing as feeling Hiyoshi recover from post-orgasmic haze, especially when it was because of him. Akaya kissed the side of the other’s head and smiled, quite proud that he'd made the other come so quickly and so hard.

Finally steadying, with a small grin, Hiyoshi turned his head to say in Akaya’s ear, “I suppose the proper etiquette in this situation is to say, thank you?” He reached out to run one hand through Akaya’s hair, while the other hand began inching down to where Akaya must be hurting.

With a little chuckle Akaya smiled, "Thank you isn't necessar---eh?" He couldn't help but groan as Hiyoshi’s finger traced over him through his pants. "D-damn... What are you--you don't have to... Nnn..." Akaya rolled his hips against Hiyoshi’s hand automatically, seeking out more friction.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes at the brat’s objections as he gently outlined the front of Akaya’s pants. He then unzipping them and pushed them down far enough to have access to his very hard, and very wet erection. “After what you just did, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I left you like this?” It was the first time Hiyoshi had ever referred to himself as Akaya’s boyfriend. The thought made him smile. Leaning back against the door with Akaya leaning against him, one hand massaged Akaya’s scalp while the other took hold of his member, massaging it teasingly.

Akaya gasped and gripped at Hiyoshi’s shoulders with a hint of desperation. "Wakashi..." He smiled despite his gasping for breath. Hiyoshi really was a good boyfriend even though Akaya didn't really have anything to compare to. He rested his head against his lover’s shoulder and moaned. He was overwhelmed. Hiyoshi’s scent, his taste, the feel of his hands, it all left him craving more.

Pleased at Akaya’s response, Hiyoshi thought with a smirk that this seemed liked a good time for a chibi demon interrogation. He teased his him a bit before moving back to rub lightly at the head. “So, Akaya… I heard you have been giving lessons?” He hadn’t known what to think about it at first, having heard from Gakuto. He wasn’t sure if, as Akaya’s boyfriend, he was supposed to be jealous. He trusted Akaya enough to know he wouldn’t cheat on him purposely, so instead decided to just ask him about it. “What exactly have you been teaching?”

Akaya growled quietly, more interested in friction than talking at the moment, but it didn't seem he was going to get what he wanted unless he answered the other man’s question. "I was giving Inui-sa--nngh... tips..." He moaned and closed his eyes tightly, gasping again as his hips jerked forward, "Tips about sex."

Hiyoshi chuckled. “Oh? What kind of sex tips?” He took Akaya’s length in a firmer grip and began leisurely stroking up and down. “Should I be taking lessons as well? Maybe I could ask Gakuto…” Using the hand in Akaya’s hair, he pulled his head to the side and began licking and nibbling at Akaya’s neck and ear lobe.

"Ah!" Akaya moaned and shuddered under the licks and bites. "Y-You don't need any tips..." He whispered. That was the last thing he needed. If an inexperienced Hiyoshi could do THIS to him, he didn't want to know what an educated one could do to him. Okay, maybe he did, but if anyone was going to teach Hiyoshi, it would be him.

Hiyoshi took a moment to just look at Akaya. His eyes were closed, but his face looked as if he was concentrating hard on something even if his lips were slightly open and panting. “Hmm... I may have to disagree with that assessment if you’re still able to think about it.” He somehow loved the feeling of Akaya pulsing in his hand. Finally, he let his grip on Akaya become hard and strong, stroking him and rubbing his thumb occasionally over the head. His lips came into contact with Akaya’s gently, licking and sucking, a complete contrast to how he was handling him. His free hand went to play with the curls at the base of his neck.

Before Akaya could argue, his lips were captured and any protest he had died out immediately. The only thing running through his mind was the mushroom headed boy in front of him and he found he didn't mind at all. He kissed back, letting Hiyoshi set the pace since he was doing a damn good job of it. Why fix what wasn't broken? One of his hands found its way into the straight soft strands of his boyfriend’s hair and tangled there, using it as a kind of anchor to keep him from getting swept away by the feeling, and for once, the emotions being with Wakashi caused in him.

Hiyoshi pushed his lips harder against Akaya’s when he felt hands in his hair and was kissed back, while still maintaining the harsh grip and movements on his erection. Somehow, doing this to Akaya was almost as enjoyable as having it done to him. If he hadn’t already come once just a few minutes ago, and wasn’t so tired from the long day, he might have been able to come again just from the look on Akaya’s face, the sound of his voice, and the feel of his body trembling against his.

Akaya started slowly rolling his hips with Hiyoshi’s movements while his tongue poked at the other boy’s, enticing him to explore his mouth since it was almost always the other way around. He liked having his boyfriend take the lead sometimes, even if he'd never admit it.

Groaning low in his throat at Akaya’s actions, Hiyoshi automatically followed Akaya’s encouragement by shyly exploring the inside the other boy’s mouth. After only a few moments of sweet exploration and the feel of Akaya still pulsing in his hand, he was trying not to let his emotions get the better of him, but he soon lost the internal battle

Pulling away hastily, Hiyoshi turned them around before slamming Akaya against the door, pressing him back between the hard surface and his body. All traces of shyness gone, he claimed the other boy’s mouth, feeling no resistance as he hotly explored with a new found urgency. One hand went back to the weeping erection, pumping him even harder, while the other stroked Akaya’s cheek, slowly making a path to his chin and then down to his sculpted chest and abs.

Akaya couldn't hold back a yelp as he was slammed back against the door. Now that was more like it. No hesitation. He moaned into the kiss and bucked his hips into his boyfriend’s hand. Almost there, he could feel the tug at his gut that meant he was finally going to relieve all of the pent up pressure that Hiyoshi always seemed to cause.

Hiyoshi could hear Akaya’s breath coming faster as he pulled away from the kiss and instead started to attack his neck non-too-gently, Akaya’s moans urging him on and causing a small growl to escape his own throat. Akaya was beautiful like this. Hiyoshi didn’t use that word often, but it was true. It was beautiful the way he seemed to so effortlessly discard his worries and just throw himself into passion, something he didn’t think he would ever be able to do without feeling some form of self-consciousness. He brought his free hand back up to cradle the back of Akaya’s head just in case he hit it on the door. Not wanting to hold back the words, wanting Akaya to know exactly how he felt, he tilted his head up and whispered almost hoarsely with restrained passion in his ear, “You’re beautiful.”

Akaya had never had anyone be considerate of him like that. Most of his lovers had tried to make him throw his head back against whatever surface he was pressed up against. Tile, sheetrock, brick, it didn't matter to them. It had never really mattered to him either, but he was fairly certain Hiyoshi would never understand just how much that little gesture meant to him.

Beautiful? That was a new one, but coming from his boyfriend’s lips it sounded like the best adjective in the world. After being called brat, chibi, and demon it was soothing and flattering to be called something else for once, especially something so full of emotion. Consequently, those hoarse words were just what he needed to fall over the edge.

Akaya saw nothing but white as he came hard in Hiyoshi’s hand and he couldn't stop himself from crying out loudly. He'd never been very good about being quiet in bed (or anywhere else for that matter).

Hiyoshi was grinning too hard to be worried about the neighbors hearing. It figured since Akaya was loud at basically everything else, he wouldn’t be any less so at this. He stroked him a few more times slowly before stopping all together and sighing as he relaxed against him, trying not to mind the hot liquid that now covered both of them. His brat was quickly turning into a very potent drug for him, never seeming to have enough. He was becoming worried that he was starting to depend on the brat too much. Basically controlling his moods and even in order to have a good nights sleep. Curiously, he brought his hand up to his mouth and hesitantly licked a finger, wincing slightly at the salty taste. How did Akaya do this?

Panting, Akaya brought one arm up around Hiyoshi’s shoulder and the other brought his boyfriend’s hand to his own mouth with a little smirk. He saw the way the other man winced and knew it was very much an acquired taste, so slowly he started licking the liquid off for him. His whole body tingled and his vision was a bit blurry, but he'd never felt better.

It really shouldn’t have been that erotic; watching as his boyfriend licked his own come off his fingers… but it was, especially when Akaya was looking at him like that. Removing his hand from that hot mouth, he grasped Akaya’s chin instead and leaned in to claim another possessive kiss. Somehow, the salty taste was much better coming directly from Akaya. After a moment, he leaned back and commanded gently, “Wait here a moment.” He went to pick up a wash cloth in order to attempt cleaning them both up.

Akaya could really get used to those possessive kisses. Akaya couldn't have moved if he'd wanted to and when Hiyoshi stepped away he had to grab the door for support since his legs wouldn't do it anymore. He smiled gratefully at Hiyoshi as he cleaned him up.

Good to know he wasn’t the only one having problems staying on his feet. Without saying a word, Hiyoshi gently wiped them both down with the wash cloth, leaning over to kiss his boyfriend gently a few times during the process. Once he was satisfied, Hiyoshi quickly rid them of the rest of their clothes. For once not caring where they landed on the floor, he navigated them both to the bed where they collapsed in a heap. He wasn’t quite ready to sleep yet, but keeping Akaya close to him was top priority at the moment.

As soon as his back hit the bed, Akaya grunted and closed his eyes, his arms and a legs immediately finding their way around the other man’s body. "Hmm... Naa Wakashi... You're really good at that..." He closed his eyes, but his grin didn't fade. He was tired, but if Hiyoshi wasn't going to sleep just yet he'd keep himself awake too.

Hiyoshi chose not to comment on Akaya’s statement, instead pulling him closer. “You can sleep if you want.” He was going to be very busy for the next couple of weeks starting tomorrow; he didn’t know when he would actually have time to spend with Akaya. He had to talk to the fraternity and find out exactly what the different events to be judged would be as well as if he was eligible to compete in the one on one combat events.

Akaya shook his head and nuzzled against his boyfriend’s neck. "I'm ok..." Now that he knew he wasn't going to get to spend as much time with him, he wanted to savor what he had.

Hiyoshi relaxed his head on top of the other’s curls, feeling them slightly tickling his chin, and leisurely combed his hand through them. “I have to be up early in the mornings for training starting tomorrow, and I probably won’t be back till late most nights for the next few weeks. It may be better if you start going back to your own room.” It wasn’t that he wanted him to, but he didn’t want Akaya to constantly be coming by only to find him not there.

"Oh..." Akaya said quietly and tightened his arms around Hiyoshi unconsciously, not wanting the other to leave him alone, especially not for so long. But he knew this was what the other wanted to do and he knew he'd do the same if it was him and a tennis tournament. "You have to come spend at least a couple nights a week with me then," he said softly, his tone came out joking but he was very much serious.

Hiyoshi could feel his chest swell at the command. “I’ll tell you what. You can help me decide what weapons I use at the tournament.” He smirked, knowing that Akaya would probably think it was cool. “I’ve never let anyone else have a say before, so you better appreciate it.”

Akaya grinned and nodded. "I'll pick good ones," he said excitedly and adjusted his position somewhat so he could kiss Hiyoshi in appreciation. He couldn't wait to tell people that his boyfriend was a ninja.

Laughing softly to himself, Hiyoshi turned his face into curls as he replied contentedly, “Good. Now sleep.” With that, he breathed in Akaya’s scent which helped his body relax and slowly enticed him to sleep.

When Hiyoshi’s breathing evened out, Akaya smiled and closed his eyes, letting himself finally drift off into a peaceful dreamless sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

White Day. Akaya had been waiting for this day for a month. He wanted this day to be special to make up for what had happened on Valentine’s Day, so he'd worked really hard on his boyfriend’s gift. Soon would be the moment of truth.

He paced in Hiyoshi’s room, the wrapped gift sitting on the desk constantly reminding him of what day it was. He had never been this nervous before, though he'd never had anyone he had to impress before. It used to be that if it didn't work out he could just shrug and continue on, but now... Now he couldn't even think about doing that.

Akaya paused in his pacing to stare at the door for a moment. "Where is he?" he mumbled. Hiyoshi had been gone, probably training, all day. But normally he was back by 8. As the big hand clicked into position at twelve, he frowned, 9 o'clock and still no sign of him. Maybe there was an accident? He checked his phone; nothing. Maybe there was an accident and he was too hurt to call? What if he was dead?! No, no, no, no! He couldn't think like that. Maybe he should call the police?

It had been one of those days. The one’s where Hiyoshi regretted getting out of bed or even opening his eyes. Akaya hadn’t stayed over the previous night, which wasn’t that odd considering it had been a Friday night and he probably went out with friends or something. He had gotten up at the crack of dawn to go for his morning run before heading over to the fraternity. The tournament was coming up soon and there was still a lot to do. If he just had to prepare himself, it wouldn’t have been nearly as time consuming; however, he had volunteered his help at the fraternity. In a way, this was good training for him as well. He had no idea how much organization and paperwork had to be done to host one small martial arts tournament.

The problem had set in when he realized it was White Day. What should have only taken a few hours, ended up taking the whole damn day; interruptions left and right by excuses of planned dates and gift giving. It was very annoying. At one point he wondered if he should try to do something for his own boyfriend… but quickly discarded the thought. Akaya would probably just laugh at him, and as An had pointed out oh so sardonically the other day, he didn’t have a single romantic bone in his body. It would have been nice to spend some of the day with him, but because of the constant breaks, he didn’t manage to get out of the building till almost an hour later than usual. Damn it! He hadn’t even had time to do any actual training today. With a frustrated glare aimed at a few of the other members who were still there, he announced that he was leaving.

Every time he heard footsteps outside the door Akaya’s ears perked up like a dog waiting for his master, but every time the steps would fade down the hall and there would be a distant clicking of a door, his heart would drop. He couldn't take much more of this.

Finally giving up on waiting, Akaya slipped on his shoes and headed out the door. He had to find Hiyoshi and make sure he was alright. He'd made it half way down the hallway before he realized he'd forgotten the present and had to run back. Leaping down the stairs at an almost running speed, he miraculously made it to the bottom without incident. He flung open the door of the dorm only to run into his boyfriend, quite literally.

With a disgruntled expression and arms crossed over his chest, Hiyoshi walked from the fraternity back to his dorm, trying to ignore all the blatant affection going on around him. If he was lucky, Akaya would already be in his room, as he usually was almost every other night when he got back. If not, he had every intention of calling him and finding out where he was. He sighed in relief when his dorm came into view.

He was only a few steps away from the main entrance when a certain seaweed-headed figure came barging out and right into him. Not having much time to react, his arms instantly came around the other body to steady them both before they could fall down onto hard cement. “Jeez, brat. Where are you in such a hurry to get to?”

Akaya’s face was a mix of emotions. First he smiled when he realized who he'd just run into but then it changed to a look of panic as he checked the present. When he determined it was ok, he let out a little sigh of relief then frowned at Hiyoshi. "Where have you been, idiot! I was wor---" he cut himself off when he realized what he had been about to say and blushed a bit before handing the present to his boyfriend with what he hoped was a cool 'whatever' kind of look. "Here..." he mumbled.

“I was working at the fraternity.” Hiyoshi replied simply. Now that he was home, there was no need to go into his frustrating day with Akaya. All he wanted to do was go inside and have a relaxing evening with his boyfriend. Maybe even go to their park if the other wanted.

He hadn’t noticed the plainly wrapped bag until Akaya handed it to him. He raised an eyebrow in question. “What’s this? Did you receive it from someone today?”

"No, stupid," Akaya said with a frown and rubbed the back of his neck, toying absently with the curls. "It's for you... from me..." He mumbled and looked away, feeling like one of those nervous blushing girls that had come up to him on Valentine’s Day. "Just open it."

After he heard the first few words, Hiyoshi stood frozen to the spot, his eyes a bit wide and his mouth hanging slightly open with a shocked expression. He was both physically and mentally unable to move from the spot where he was still holding the bag in front of Akaya. An internal monologue starting in his head blocking out everything else that might have been going on around him. ‘Is he serious? A White Day gift… He’s giving this to me? He looks really cute like that. Maybe I should have done something after all… Maybe this is a joke. Why does he look so embarrassed? Are there people looking? What is it? Maybe I should open it…’ Of course, opening it would require moving, which was something he seemed unable to achieve at the moment.

Akaya raised an eyebrow as Hiyoshi went rigid and didn't say anything, "Wakashi?" he asked curiously, waving a hand in front of the others zoned out face. Ok... that was weird.

Sanada walked toward the entrance of the dorm with long steady strides. He was almost back to safety, away from the creepy romantic atmosphere, when a mass of black curly hair and a light brown bowl cut caught his attention. What were those two doing? He walked over slowly, making sure he wasn't interrupting. "Akaya?" he said curiously and looked to Hiyoshi, "What's wrong with him?"

His fukubuchou’s voice caught him off guard but it wasn't unwelcome. "I dunno, I gave him his present and he just kinda stopped moving..." he mumbled and poked Hiyoshi in the forehead lightly.

"Hn..." Sanada noticed they were starting to draw attention to themselves and frowned. They needed to relocate, but what were they supposed to do if Hiyoshi was down for the count?

"I didn't break him, did I?" Akaya asked, looking almost panicked.

Sanada let out a deep sigh before plucking the gift out of Hiyoshi’s hand and handing it back to Akaya. "Hold that." he said firmly before bending and slinging Hiyoshi over his shoulder and heading inside.

His gift was gone. That thought broke Hiyoshi out of his stupor and he thought his body would finally start to respond again when he felt himself being picked up. What the hell?! When did Sanada-san get here? “Hey! Put me down!” He kicked his legs a few times for emphasis. This was mortifying! He went for his other option. “Akaya! Tell him to put me down!”

"Err... Fukubuchou... I think you can put him down now..." Akaya said with a little laugh.

Sanada paused and looked at his kohai and the struggling boy on his shoulder. "Hnn..." He set the mushroom headed boy down so he would stop whining and took his leave silently.

"Heh heh, sorry. You kinda zoned out for a while. We didn’t know what to do," Akaya laughed a little and held out the gift again. "Should we try this again?"

That had been one of the most humiliating things that had ever happened to him! After he was properly on his feet again, Hiyoshi glared at Sanada’s retreating back before turning his glare on Akaya. It didn’t keep though as Akaya presented the gift to him again. He eyes immediately softened as he reached for it. After it was securely in his possession again, he grabbed Akaya’s hand and dragged him towards the privacy of his room as quickly as possible, away from prying eyes.

‘How could anyone think Hiyoshi was boring?’ Akaya pondered as he was dragged along, grinning like a madman. He came to the conclusion that they had just never seen this side of the man, but he was fine with that. This side could be just for him. He liked that idea a lot.

Once they were both safely in the room, Hiyoshi let go of Akaya’s hand and closed the door. He glanced from Akaya’s pleased face to the gift a few times with a light blush. “I didn’t get you anything...” He trailed off guiltily.

Akaya’s smile didn't even falter. "That's ok," he said happily and glanced to the present. "Well, aren't you going to open it?" he asked teasingly and waited with bated breath, making sure to hide how nervous he was. Inui had been really nice and helpful and had assured him the cookies tasted great, but he couldn't help but be nervous. He'd never done anything like this for anyone before.

With a small nod and trying to keep a straight face, Hiyoshi sheepishly unwrapped his gift. It was a simple box that contained about a dozen cookies in it, homemade by the looks of it. Hiyoshi wasn’t sure what to say. He could feel a lump forming in his throat. There were many girls who had given him cookies before, both homemade and expensively bought. Choutarou had made him cookies before, but those had always been bittersweet. Knowing his feelings weren’t returned. This was the first time they had actually come from someone whom he cared about… and who cared for him in the same way. “Did… did you make these?”

Akaya’s smile twitched for a moment. Did Hiyoshi not like homemade cookies? Did he even like cookies at all? Maybe he should have asked first. Hesitantly, he nodded. "Yeah... Inui-san taught me how..."

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Hiyoshi brought one of the cookies to his mouth and took a bite. Chocolate Chip, nothing fancy. Plain, but good. They could have tasted like dirt and Hiyoshi still would have been silently thrilled. He eyes met Akaya’s and the corners of his mouth turned up to form a small happy grin. Who knew that one little gesture like this could make him feel this good? “They’re good. Thank you.”

Akaya let out the breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding as the knot in his chest loosened. "Really?" he asked, his smile growing as Hiyoshi’s formed, "You really like them?"

Seeing Akaya’s expression, Hiyoshi’s own smile widened and couldn’t help teasing. “Well, they aren’t the worlds finest.” He pulled Akaya against him in a one armed hug. “…But they’re the best I’ve ever had.” He knew it was cheesy, but honestly, the whole situation was, so he just went with it. He pulled back and kissed him once softly on the lips before holding a cookie out to him, “Do you want one?”

Akaya shook his head with a little smile on his face. He had eaten far too many cookies over the week, trying to get them just right. "Nah," he was honestly happier than he had been in well... ever, probably. He stole another quick kiss, his grin never leaving his face, "but... I'll take some more kisses," he teased quietly.

With a small chuckle, Hiyoshi put the bag of cookies down and pulled Akaya closer to him, both arms going around his brat’s waist. He lightly kissed his forehead, quickly followed by a kiss on the nose, and then placed a few more feather light kisses on his cheeks and chin, everywhere but on his lips. “There. Is that all you want?”

Akaya was waiting with great anticipation for the kiss on the lips to finally come, but when it didn't, he stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "Not fair," he frowned and fixed his well practiced pouty eyes on Hiyoshi, silently begging him for what he wanted.

Hiyoshi only smiled wider at the other boy’s pout, although still incredibly cute, his brat would have to find a new trick to get what he wanted. “I’m sorry, what was that?” He raised an eyebrow at him mockingly, “I don’t believe you ever specified exactly where you wanted to be kissed.” He leaned down and placed small light kisses down Akaya’s neck.

Akaya shivered under the teasing kisses and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi. "My lips first, then everywhere else," he said, finally unable to keep the smile off his face any longer.

“So demanding… You really need to work on your manners.” Hiyoshi drawled out rather smugly. It was so rare that he had the upper hand when dealing with his brat. He was quite understandably reluctant to relinquish it now. Straightening himself, he leaned forward toward the other’s lips, his breath ghosting over them but not actually touching. “You wanna try asking a bit nicer, Akaya?”

Groaning in frustration, Akaya bit his lip. "Wakashi...." he whined and finally sighed in frustration and swallowed his pride, "Please?" He asked as politely as he could, moving his hands to Hiyoshi’s chest to grip at his shirt.

At the small utterance, Hiyoshi didn’t even try to hold back anymore. His lips came down on Akaya’s hotly and dominating. As always, Akaya’s body against his was warm and wonderful. He had been so busy lately… It had to have been at least a week since they last kissed like this. He hadn’t realized how much he’d been starving for him.

Akaya let out a moan immediately and, using his grip on Hiyoshi’s shirt, tugged him forward until Akaya was pushed up against the wall. He kissed back with everything he had. He wanted Hiyoshi to understand that he really did care for him, even if his cookies weren't the greatest. He'd missed this.

If his mouth hadn’t already been wholly occupied, Hiyoshi would have smirked. Now that they were against the wall, he could press himself even harder against the other boy and enjoy all the little sensations and noises he both felt and heard. His hands moved over Akaya’s chest and abs and even strayed to his waist to tease at skin, but not venturing any further. Akaya’s kisses were addicting and he felt the familiar shivers running up his spine as he shuddered against him. After a few minutes, he felt the need to continue on with the other half of Akaya’s request and began his assault on Akaya’s ears and neck, however, this time, not so gently.

Hiyoshi’s hands left his skin burning and his body aching for more. "Nnn..." He tilted his head back, making a quiet thud as it connected with the wall, and bared his neck to his boyfriend obediently. A blush spread from his cheeks down to his neck as each little nip and kiss sent fire racing through him that all seemed to pool is his gut. The attack on his neck was definitely going to leave marks, but he didn't mind at all. In fact he wanted them; because they were from Hiyoshi and in his mind they were a mark of ownership.

Hiyoshi worked his way back up to Akaya’s lips again, nibbling a bit before possessively consuming them again. One of his hands came up to gently knead at the base of Akaya’s neck while the other rested securely on his hip. With a great deal of self-control, he put a stop to their heavy make-out session by having to mentally and forcefully pull himself away from the other boy. With slightly glazed eyes, still looking lustfully at Akaya, he said between breathes. “I think it’s time for a break.”

Akaya was in heaven. Every little touch was earning a quiet moan from him and he couldn't wait to continue--and then it all stopped. He looked at Hiyoshi with pleading, lust filled eyes that also held a hint of confusion. "EH? A break?! Why?" He asked quickly and tried to figure out what he'd done wrong.

Hiyoshi chuckled softly at Akaya’s confused expression and continued to massage at the back of neck. “I haven’t spent any time with you, except for sleeping, in over a week. Before things go too far and we both crash, I want to spend a little time with you awake.” Despite how other people might be in relationships, Hiyoshi actually enjoyed spending time with his boyfriend outside of bed.

Akaya groaned and slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. "Why couldn't you have said that earlier?" he reached to his crotch and adjusted his pants, trying to relieve some of the pressure on his rather painful erection. "Man..." he scratched the back of his head and tried to calm his racing heart down. "So what did you want to do then?"

Hiyoshi felt uncertain now. Maybe he shouldn’t have assumed that Akaya wouldn’t mind just spending time with him before… whatever was going to happen. “Sorry, it’s not my fault you’re so tempting, and you surprised me with that gift.” He was in a painful situation as well, but he could deal with it. He sat down, and pulled Akaya to him, trying not to let his feelings of dejection show. Akaya had gotten him a gift for White Day; maybe he was being selfish. “Forget I said anything…” He leaned over to kiss the other boy again, trying to coax him into where they had been before.

Well that was new; Hiyoshi was admitting that Akaya was tempting? He could definitely get used to that. When his boyfriend kissed him again, it was his turn to pull away. "Come on, you want to just spend some time together right?" He said and smiled at him. "We can do whatever you want. Wanna go for a walk around the lake?" What kind of boyfriend would he be if he denied his lover what he wanted on white day?

“I’m trying to do whatever you want, brat.” Hiyoshi said while rolling his eyes. He shouldn’t have broken the mood in the first place. It was enough to know that Akaya was willing to stop for him. With a small smile to his accommodating boyfriend and mental nod to himself, he decided what he would do for him. Already half on his lap, it wasn’t hard for Hiyoshi to maneuver himself the rest of the way till he was straddling him. “How about we both get what we want?”

He would never understand his boyfriend, Akaya decided. As Hiyoshi moved into his lap he rested his hands on the other man’s hips and looked at him, trying to decipher what it was that he actually wanted. Though he was definitely not going to complain about both of them getting what they wanted. "You think you can stay awake after?" he asked quietly. He knew he could, experience had proven that time and time again, but whether Hiyoshi had that kind of stamina was yet to be seen. Either way, he didn't know how well he could walk at that moment.

“Brat. Who said anything about me?” He used his leg strength around Akaya’s thighs and his arm cradling Akaya’s head to turn them so that Akaya was lying on the floor. He moved one hand quickly to grab both of Akaya’s, while the other moved down to cup where he could see a very apparent bulge in his pants. By the looks of it, it had been a cruel thing to ask him to stop. “I don’t know if I could right now, but I know you can.”

Well that was a surprising change in events. He tried to pull his wrists away from Hiyoshi’s grip but failed. Damn his boyfriend was strong. When he felt the burn of fingers on his trapped erection he moaned and looked at Hiyoshi pleadingly. "Nn... Then what about you?" He knew he wasn't the only one who was turned on by their little session earlier.

“I’ll live. I’m the repressed one who’s used to this, remember?” Hiyoshi joked before leaning down to kiss him, using the distraction to focus on Akaya’s pants, undoing the button and pulling down the zipper. “Besides,” he said against his lips. “I’m sure you’ll make it up to me later.” He then began unbuttoning Akaya’s shirt, tugging at the fabric.

He had a point. He let Hiyoshi undress him (not that he really had a choice, he just liked to think he did) and once his boyfriend went to pull down his pants, he lifted his hips and used one foot to expertly tug the pants down and off, then did the same to his boxers. You learned interesting tricks when you spent a couple nights handcuffed to a bedpost.

This was the moment Hiyoshi had been agonizing over. ‘Yes, I’m really going to do this.’ he kept telling himself. With most of Akaya’s clothing gone (in a bit of an odd fashion) he moved his fingers over his lover's length, needing a moment to prepare and relax. Trailing his lips down Akaya’s chest, he made it all the way to Akaya’s stomach before finally letting go of Akaya’s hands. He looked back up at Akaya questioning, "I…" He gulped, looking to the side a bit. "If it's… bad… I'll stop, but I’ll try…" Hiyoshi knew he must look like a tomato by now, but he wanted so badly to satisfy his boyfriend.

He wasn't actually going to... He was. Akaya smiled and ran a hand through Hiyoshi’s hair as he propped himself up on one elbow. "You don't have to push yourself," he said softly and sighed inaudibly, "Though if you really want to... just don't bite. I'll let you know before I come."

“Idiot… Are you trying to embarrass me? Do you really think I would do something I didn’t want to?” Taking a deep breath first, Hiyoshi finally brought his lips down; breathe ghosts over hot flesh for a moment before he experimentally brought his tongue out to taste. ‘Well, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be...’ was the first thought that entered his mind. Encouraged by the fingers in his hair, and losing some of his shyness, he began his exploration to see what Akaya responded to and get used to the new texture and sensation.

As Hiyoshi started exploring, Akaya couldn't help but groan quietly. It had been so long since anyone had gone down on him. He'd forgotten how good it felt. He watched his boyfriend carefully, taking in every little expression that crossed the other’s face.

Feeling a bit more emboldened by Akaya’s response, Hiyoshi finally wrapped his lips around the long shaft, his eyes serious as he concentrated on keeping his teeth out of the way. Not sure what to do with his tongue, he let it glide over flesh as his head slid over Akaya. He couldn’t take much of him in at once without gagging, so instead covered the neglected flesh with his fingers.

Akaya smiled at the serious focused look on Hiyoshi’s face. He looked so determined to do everything right, it was cute. He decided not to repress his noises of pleasure because it looked like his boyfriend needed to hear them. "Nnn... Wakashi..." he purred happily, impressed that his lover knew to take care of the stuff he couldn't take in his mouth with his hand.

Hiyoshi looked up at Akaya when he heard him say his name like that and had to pull almost all the way back while repressing a smile, he’d have to work on that. While he was there, he hesitantly licked at the head where he tasted that same saltiness from the last time Akaya and he had been together in a similar position. He had been right in his earlier assessment; it tasted better coming directly from Akaya. After a minute, he went down on him again, this time having learned to relax his throat and managed to take in a bit more. As he gained confidence, he finally managed to set something of a rhythm.

Akaya groaned and let his head fall back as he focused all of his energy into not bucking into Hiyoshi’s warm mouth. It was so tempting though. He'd had this done to him so many times, but none of them had ever felt this good. He couldn't understand it. Hiyoshi was inexperienced and wasn't even doing much, no fancy tongue tricks, no deep throating, nothing. But it was dissolving him into a moaning pile of goo. Maybe it had to do with the fluttering the other caused in his chest?

It was such a strange feeling, but Akaya’s moans sent little tremors through him and made his own desire tighten. He couldn't help a low, faint moan, that vibrated around him as he experimented with sucking and trying to get even more reactions out of him. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to enjoy doing this to the extent Akaya seemed to, preferring being able to kiss him and talk to him while feeling him in his hand, but he was willing to make some sacrifices every once in a while.

Akaya felt the tug in his gut and realized he'd been pushed this far already. It had raced up on him and he gave a little gentle tug at Hiyoshi hair. "Wakashi, s-stop, I'm gonna come," he said with a little whimper, he was so close.

Hiyoshi was beginning to tire, his jaw starting to feel a bit sore when he heard and felt Akaya’s warning. For a split second he considered staying but instantly decided against it, knowing that he would probably gag and it would be less than the ideal situation for either of them. He could tell just by his boyfriend’s breathing how close he was. He withdrew, but not before giving one last lick and suck at the head on his way back. Smiling, he leaned against Akaya’s body, wrapping his hand around the now neglected erection and squeezed as he wrapped his other arm around his waist, covering Akaya’s chest with biting, teasing kisses.

Akaya whimpered again as his whole body went rigid and his vision faded to white. "Aah!" He cried out loudly as he arched up against his boyfriend. He clutched at Hiyoshi’s shoulders and rode out wave over wave of pleasure.

As Hiyoshi felt the trembling in his boyfriend’s body start to subside, he continued to gently stroke the flesh in his hand. He couldn’t help the pleased smile that donned on his own face. Akaya looked so enticing like this; his eyes glazed over in pleasure, the cute little satisfied smile. He could definitely feel the strain below his belt, but ignored it in favor of watching his brat. The satisfaction he was already feeling outweighing his own need at the moment. He began running his clean hand through the dark curls and started to lean in for a kiss, but then changed his mind since he could still taste the saltiness in his mouth.

Akaya smiled up at his boyfriend happily and pulled Hiyoshi in for a kiss, even though his boyfriend hesitated. He didn't care about the taste; in fact he rather enjoyed it. It mixed well with Hiyoshi’s own taste. He loved it.

Hiyoshi let the kiss linger for a few minutes, enjoying the moment, before gently pulling away to get a towel in order to clean them both up. “I think we need a shower.” he chuckled after looking at the mess on both their stomachs. “But this will have to do for now.”

"After we go for a walk or whatever you wanna do," Akaya replied with a still dazed expression, sitting up on shaking arms. "And when we take a shower," he smirked and ran his fingers lightly over the bulge between his boyfriend’s legs, "I'll take care of this."

Hiyoshi’s breath hitched and his throat threatened to let noise escape at the light touch, but he managed to hold it in and quickly removed Akaya’s hand. “Don’t do that brat, or we’ll never make it out.” Taking a few deep breaths, he stood before offering a hand down to Akaya to help him up as well. “Let’s just take a walk around the lake for a little while,” the cold air outside sounded really good right then “then come back.” That part sounded good, too.

"Heh heh, alright, alright, I'll wait," Akaya took the offered hand and pulled himself to his feet. He was still a little shaky, but was stable enough to find and tug on his pants, deciding to forego the boxers. They would just be in the way later.

Hiyoshi checked himself in the mirror, as well as looked over Akaya once to make sure there were no noticeable signs of what they had just been doing. Picking up the cookies that Akaya had given him earlier, he placed them in a safer spot on his desk where they wouldn’t get damaged on accident. “Let’s go.” He held out his hand for Akaya to take with a shy smile on his face.


	13. Chapter 13

"It's almost over," Sanada mumbled trying to calm down his rather bored (and thus obnoxious) kohai. Hiyoshi was done with his matches, his last one having just finished, the trick was keeping Akaya amused enough to keep him from running off and making trouble. Until then, Sanada had been doing a rather good job and the younger boy had stayed out of trouble. But now, his eyes were fixed on an amazing hand to hand match that was taking place nearby; he didn’t notice the chibi demon wandering off to find his boyfriend.

The tournament had been a success, which Hiyoshi was now proud to say he was a large contributor to. With Akaya’s assistance he had chosen to participate in two different kata contests, using nunchucks and sai, as well as one combat match. He had won one of the two kata contests and his combat match. He had also been running around in between all his matches in order to make sure everything else was running smoothly. All in all, it had so far been a very good and fulfilling day.

He had spotted Akaya and Sanada together, and a few other familiar faces in the crowd once or twice, but hadn’t yet had the time to talk to anyone. He was eager hear what Akaya thought of the tournament, and maybe even ask what he thought of his matches. After all, he had specifically trained harder than usual this time in order to make himself look cool in front of his boyfriend. It may have been a somewhat shallow reason, but it was true. He just spotted Akaya and was about go over to him when he was approached by Suzuki Keisuke.

Suzuki Keisuke had been a student with him at his father’s dojo for many years. They had trained together numerous times while growing up. Keisuke had always been very friendly towards him, but he wouldn’t call them close, or even friends. Although he wasn’t a student at the University, Keisuke had come today to participate in the tournament and was the opponent Hiyoshi had beaten earlier in the finals for the combat matches.

Akaya wanted to congratulate his boyfriend on his wins and maybe steal a kiss or two or five... He had to admit, watching Hiyoshi use nunchucks had been pretty hot. He wandered around, dodging half naked competitors and judges only to find his boyfriend a few minutes later talking to another man. He didn't think anything of it until he saw the look on the other man’s face. He knew that look. He was an expert at that look. It was a look that said 'You're so cute. I'm going to fuck you until you can't walk, later.' No one gave HIS Wakashi that look, except HIM. Walking over, his back straight so he stood at his full height, which was actually noticeably taller than Hiyoshi, he put on his best cocky smirk and slung an arm over his boyfriend’s shoulder. "Who's your friend, Wakashi?" He asked, not too subtly stressing that he was using the man’s first name. ‘He's mine.’

Keisuke’s eyes narrowed immediately as the strange seaweed headed man approached. This did not bode well. When the stranger touched Hiyoshi so openly he couldn't help but glare at him, until Hiyoshi’s eyes turned back to him, then he smiled pleasantly. "Suzuki Keisuke," he introduced himself in a pleasant tone. ‘Get off of him you little freak’ he ran a hand through his short brown spike hair and turned his attention to Hiyoshi. "How do you two know each other?" he asked politely, now completely ignoring the obnoxious boy.

Hiyoshi had only just gotten through the re-introduction formalities with Keisuke when Akaya approached them and literally seemed to drape himself on top of him. “This is Kirihara Akaya.” Hiyoshi introduced simply to his training mate. It wasn’t in Hiyoshi to be able to actually introduce him as his boyfriend, but he wasn’t going to lie and just call him a friend either. Akaya might be hurt by such a statement, not to mention he knew he sucked at lying. “Our schools played against each other when I used to play tennis back in middle school, and now he goes to University here with me.” It was a simple yet true enough statement. “Akaya, Keisuke-san used to train with me at my father’s dojo.”

Akaya was happy that Hiyoshi didn't immediately push him away or even try to move away from him at all; maybe he was becoming too predictable? Either way he didn't like the look the 'childhood friend' character was giving him. "Come on Wakashi," he said with a teasing tone, "Don't be shy. He looks like a pretty accepting fellow." He turned his eyes on Keisuke and smirked devilishly so Hiyoshi couldn't see him. "Wakashi is my boyfriend." he said firmly, making sure the stranger understood their relationship. Hopefully that would make him back off.

Keisuke’s smile widened, not faltering for a moment, though it never reached his eyes. "Boyfriend, huh?" This was not how things were supposed to go. Judging from the look in Kirihara’s eyes and how comfortable they were around each other, they had to have already fucked. Damn it. He was supposed to be Hiyoshi’s first, not this sea weed headed moron.

Hiyoshi glared at Akaya and pinched his side hard to make him back off. Hadn’t the brat learned by now that he didn’t appreciate talking about it in public? Especially in front of someone who had connections with his father? Keisuke and him weren’t that close. Shit. He was going to be angry at Akaya later. For now though, the damage had already been done. Turning his glare away from Akaya, he looked back at Keisuke with a look of resignation. “More or less, but I would appreciate it” he smacked Akaya upside the head, “if you didn’t spread it around.”

Akaya yelped loudly and leaped away, drawing the attention of a few people passing by. From the stands, Sanada’s voice bellowed 'AKAYA!' and the little demon shrunk back. How did he do that? He wasn't even near Sanada... Well whatever, it sucked that Hiyoshi was probably mad at him, but at least he got his point across to the new guy. The smack to the back of the head didn't even faze him, but the people that had stopped to stare quickly looked away and continued on a bit faster.

"Of course," Keisuke said with a little very fake laugh, "I wouldn't want to cause trouble for you Hiyoshi-san." Causing trouble for Kirihara however, he was definitely planning on it.

“Thank you.” Hiyoshi replied gratefully, before quickly changing the subject. “You did well in your matches. You’ve improved since we last competed.” He only had a few minutes more before he had to go check the judges table, and he would much rather spend that time with Akaya, but it would be rude of him to disregard Keisuke.

"Thank you, I've been training hard so I could beat you," Keisuke said with a little laugh. At least Hiyoshi understood how hard he trained.

"Naa Wakashi," Akaya said, interrupting the other boy, "Come on, I'm sure Sanada-fukubuchou wanted to talk to you before your next match." He wanted to get his boyfriend as far away from this guy as he could, as fast as he could. He was a threat and Akaya did not like people trying to take his things.

“I’m done with my matches for today.” Why was Akaya acting like this? They would definitely be talking about this later. “You’ll have to excuse me Keisuke-san. There are some things I have to attend to before the final matches. I hope we’ll be able to meet up later if time permits.” With that, he gave a polite bow, and dragged Akaya away with him.

Keisuke watched the two walk away and frowned. He'd let them go for now, but this wasn't over yet.

Once they were out of earshot, Hiyoshi turned on Akaya. “I don’t know what that was all about, but I don’t have time right now to talk about it.” He looked over his shoulder and saw Sanada not too far away. “I’ll be done in about a half hour, okay?”

"Yeah, alright," Akaya said trying to sound as impartial as he could even though it hurt a bit that Hiyoshi was mad at him for trying to protect him. "Just... Wakashi... Do me a favor?" He said quietly and rubbed the back of his neck, "Stay away from that Suzuki guy, okay?"

Hiyoshi gave him a puzzled look. For what reason would he ask that? “Why would you want me to…?” He shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve known him basically my whole life.” When he saw Akaya’s facial expression, he added with a sigh. “We’ll talk about this later. It’s not like I’ll be seeing much more of him anyway after the tournament is over. You can go back to the room though and I’ll meet you afterword if you’re feeling uncomfortable.”

"I'm not leaving," Akaya said quickly and frowned, "but just... trust me? Ok?" he ran his fingers over Hiyoshi's hand lightly. He knew the other man would be furious with him if he kissed him in front of everyone, so this would have to do for now.

Akaya was serious about this. Hiyoshi could only nod at the request. It still seemed ridiculous to him, but if Akaya felt that strongly about it, then he would try to appease him for now. Seeing it was almost time for the last set of matches to start, Hiyoshi had to say a quick goodbye before hurrying off to the judges table.

As the other man walked away, Akaya let out a quiet sigh and took his seat on the bleachers again.

Sanada glanced over at him; arms crossed over his chest, and raised an eyebrow. Something was obviously bothering the younger man, but he knew the other would talk about it when he was ready. There was no need to ask.

"I don't trust that guy..." Akaya mumbled and shoved his hands into his pockets. He was not happy about letting Hiyoshi go off on his own, but at least his boyfriend had agreed.

Right on cue. Sanada uncrossed his arms as the match he'd been watching came to an end, "Who?" Surely he didn't mean Hiyoshi?

"Some guy Wakashi trained with as a kid. He's trying to steal him," he growled quietly. Maybe Sanada would know what to do. He did have amazing fukubuchou powers after all.

"Trying to steal him?" Sanada repeated a bit skeptically. It seemed ridiculous, but then again... if anyone would be able to tell, it would be Akaya. He didn't even want to think about how many people his kohai had wooed away from their lovers. Trying to put himself in the other boy’s place, he pictured what would happen if he saw someone very obviously trying to steal his boyfriend away. Just the thought made his heart pound and all the hairs on his neck stand on end. The worst part was he probably wouldn't even realize he was being hit on. Suddenly, it hit him. That was what was bothering Akaya the most. Hiyoshi didn't seem to be the sharpest katana on the rack when it came to that sort of thing. "Just trust in him," he said quietly, making sure Akaya’s attention was on him, "That's all you can do. Trying to do more will upset him. He cares about you, Akaya. He won't leave you."

As Sanada started speaking, Akaya frowned. He knew the other man was right, but it was hard to hear. He wanted to be able to do something about it because he wasn't good at trusting people when it came to relationships. He'd watched too many people throw away a partner they 'loved' for a fling (usually with him). It had been enough to make him never want a relationship. Hiyoshi had changed that. He'd made him want to try, but he was scared of loosing him to someone that had more in common with him. Sanada was right though, he just needed to trust in his boyfriend’s feelings for him. "Thanks fukubuchou."

"Hnn..." Sanada hummed and turned his attention back to the last few matches that were taking place.

Akaya wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it looked like all of the matches were over so now they just had to wait for Hiyoshi. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom," he mumbled and jumped off the bleachers before heading off to relieve himself. He walked into the bathroom with a sigh. The tournament was over and everyone was leaving so the place was empty, just the way he preferred it. He walked up to one of the urinals and started unzipping his pants. He hadn't even gotten the zipper half way down before he heard the door open. He glanced over at it and frowned when his eyes met Keisuke’s. Great. Just the person he didn't want to see. He kept his mouth shut and just took care of business.

When he finished, Akaya zipped up his pants and turned to face the other man who was leaning against the sink watching him. Ok, that was a little creepy. "What the hell are you looking at?" he asked as he walked over to the sink to wash his hands.

"I don't care what your relationship with him is. I knew him first. He's mine," Keisuke growled and glared at Akaya. The smug look in the idiot’s eyes was pissing him off and he wanted to just slam his face into the sink. And it just grew when the guy smirked.

"He's yours, huh? Really? That's funny because you know, I could have sworn he was in MY bed last night," Akaya set his hand on the other man’s shoulder and gave it a pat. "Move on buddy, it's not going to happen."

Keisuke growled and grabbed Akaya’s hand. He'd be damned if he was going to let the weakling talk to him like that. He held the wrist tightly and bent it back, so that he could control the other boy’s actions. It wouldn’t have been hard to get out of, but this guy was obviously untrained. He manipulated him up against the wall and pressed the other man’s face into the cold tile. "I think you misunderstand, buddy. If you don't back off and stop tainting Hiyoshi-san, then I will make sure you regret it."

Akaya couldn't help but laugh that cold demonic laugh he was notorious for. Yeah, the guy could probably kick his ass, but he knew Keisuke’s type. He wouldn't let Hiyoshi be taken away from him.

The weakling had the nerve to laugh at him?! How dare he! To show it was not an empty threat, he grabbed Kirihara by the back of the hair tightly and slammed his face into the tile. Even he wouldn't be able to laugh after that.

Akaya tried to take a step forward and stumbled as the room started to spin. Definitely a concussion. This was not good. As his knees and hands hit the floor, he let out another quiet curse. Hiyoshi was going to be mad at him.

Just for good measure, Keisuke gave the other man a swift kick to the jaw, knocking him over to his side, then a kick to the stomach to roll him onto his back. He wasn't getting up. He'd make sure of it. Once Hiyoshi saw how weak the man was, he'd definitely leave him.

Akaya looked up at him with narrowed eyes that were quickly turning red. He'd make this guy bloody too, as soon as he could figure out which one of the four was real.

Hiyoshi had gotten out a little later than he’d anticipated. Once he had the okay to leave from the other members, he went in search of Sanada and Akaya. Hopefully Akaya would explain to him why Keisuke put him on edge earlier so afterwards they could go out to dinner or something. Maybe some of their friends would like to come along, too.

He found Sanada, but was told that Akaya had gone to use the facilities. After waiting a few minutes, and being a bit paranoid of leaving Akaya alone in this atmosphere when in a bad mood, he decided to go wait for him by the bathroom. When he arrived at the door, he heard a painful grunt that sounded painfully familiar coming from inside. Swinging the door open, he would never forget that scene. Akaya was on the floor, blood dripping from his face, looking disoriented, and Keisuke was above him… looking like he was about to kick him. He was so shocked by the image, his body reacted automatically.

When Keisuke went to kick him again, Hiyoshi grabbed and shoved him, knocking him back against the wall. Before Keisuke could respond, he already had positioned his elbow against the other man’s jugular. If he tried to move, he’d crush his windpipe. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He asked in a deadly serious tone. “Akaya? Are you alright?” He called out immediately after, not once looking away from the fucker in front of him.

Keisuke didn't even have time to react after the door opened. The next thing he knew he was up against the wall with an elbow to his throat. What surprised him the most was that it was Hiyoshi. "I was just---" How could this have happened? Why was Hiyoshi attacking him?! This wasn't his fault! The weak punk deserved it for being so cocky!

Instead of four Keisuke’s, all Akaya could see now was the spinning ceiling, and was that Wakashi’s voice? Crap, he was delusional... He forced himself to sit up and was greeted by the fuzzy image of Hiyoshi pinning the other guy up against the wall. A new wave of nausea hit him. "I've been better..." he mumbled and tried to stand, only to fall back over, "What are you doing here Wakashi?"

Fuck… Akaya’s voice was off, and he could hear him moving and then fall. He obviously at least had a concussion. He wanted to go to him but had to take care of Keisuke first. Tone icy and gaze fixed, he seethed, “I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking, but if you try anything else, I swear I’ll make it so you’ll never be able to use your arms or legs ever again, no dojo will take you after this anyway.”

Keisuke looked as terrified as he felt, it was all he could do to nod and not cry. He'd never seen this side of Hiyoshi. He'd seen him serious before, but he'd never seen him actually angry. It was terrifying. His plan had backfired and now he didn't know what to do. Hiyoshi was stronger than him; he couldn't win if he fought him, though he didn't really want to anyway.

Akaya reached up to touch his forehead and winced. That was definitely going to leave a mark. He looked at the other two men and frowned. His boyfriend was hot when he was forceful like that, but he could tell how scared the other boy was. "Wakashi, let 'im go. He's not going to do anything." he mumbled. He didn’t know why he felt bad for the guy who'd just given him a concussion, but he did. He knew it would kill him to be in that guy’s place.

Hiyoshi considered his options. The man he had once respected as a fellow martial artist was clearly not this person. “I thought better of you,” he said solemnly before slowly backing away without letting his guard down. “If you ever come near me again, or if I even see you anywhere close to Akaya, I won’t be so forgiving. Now get out.”

As soon as Hiyoshi backed away, Keisuke tried to calm himself. But the cold words were too much, and he ran.

Once Keisuke was gone, Hiyoshi finally let out the breath out he’d been holding and rushed over to Akaya. He helped him sit up slowly, steadying him in his arms. Running a hand gently through his hair, he tried to figure out the extent of damage that had been done. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, feeling horribly guilty. “I think we should take you to the hospital to get checked out. How many fingers do you see?" He held up two fingers.

Akaya winced as he sat back up and the world began to spin anew. "Sorry for what?" he asked, smiling at the other man despite the blood still dripping down the front of his face. Damn head wounds bleed too much. He tried to focus on the fingers but found doing so made him feel very, very sick. "Ugh… um... ok six… but I know that's not right... So, uh... four?" he guessed then groaned, "No, not the hospital. I hate that place. I'm fine, really." He smiled again, trying to reassure Hiyoshi.

If Hiyoshi had been the emotional type, he would have started to tear up, but as it was he just leaned over and kissed the top of Akaya’s curls and said in a dead voice, “Try two. You have to go to the hospital, I’m calling for help.” He pulled out his cell phone. “I should tell Sanada-san, too.” Angry didn’t even begin to describe how upset he was at the moment. He would make sure that Suzuki Keisuke never was able to study martial arts again.

Akaya frowned and grabbed at the phone. Of course, he missed and grabbed the mirage phone first, but on the second grab he got the real one. "Stop," he said somewhat firmly, "I'm not going to the hospital, just... let's go home, okay? I've gotten a concussion before... It's not that big a deal..."

“You can’t even stand up on your own!” Hiyoshi yelled back, not meaning to take his anger out on Akaya, but was having trouble containing himself. “Did that bastard hurt you anywhere else?” He looked straight into Akaya’s disoriented eyes. He may be a good liar, but he better not hold anything back about this.

Akaya winced at the yelling that mixed with the quiet ringing in his ears. "Hey, keep your voice down," he forced a little laugh then met Hiyoshi’s eyes. "A kick to the jaw," he pointed to the sore red spot on the other side of his face, "and a kick here," he pulled up his shirt to show off the already bruising skin on his side, "That's all." he assured.

Hiyoshi sighed and had to close his eyes for a moment to compose himself, counting down in his head. “Fine.” He relented. “I’m taking you home, but if there is anything else wrong, or I sense you still need to go to the hospital after an hour, then you don’t get a choice. Understood?” He was NOT happy, but they couldn’t stay here on the cold bathroom floor where someone could walk in at any moment, and Akaya wasn’t the type to be forced into anything.

"Alright..." Akaya agreed and gave him a little lopsided smile. "Then let’s go..." He forced himself to his feet again. He wobbled, but didn't fall this time. He refused to ask for help. This concussion was worse than his last one, but there was no way in hell he was going to tell Hiyoshi that. Maybe he'd get Sanada to take him to the doctor later after his boyfriend went to bed. Man, Sanada was going to be pissed...

It was hard for Hiyoshi to watch Akaya trying to stand up by himself. He could tell Akaya was being stubborn and trying not to show how much he was hurting. That was even harder. Why couldn’t he trust him even a little bit to take care of him? Well, he didn’t have a choice right now. Without saying a word, he brought his arm around Akaya’s waist to help support him. He was glad by this time the tournament was well over and almost everyone but the few remaining to finish up the cleaning were left. Trying to be nonchalant about it, he guided both Akaya and himself towards Akaya’s room, which thankfully, wasn’t very far away.

From the bleachers, Sanada watched the other two walk out of the bathroom. He'd seen Keisuke run out no more than a couple minutes before and it didn't take a scientist to figure out what had happened. He pulled out his phone and sent Hiyoshi a text message. 'Good job today. Take care of him. He's stubborn and probably doesn't want you to see him hurting, don't let him push you away.' He closed his phone and shoved it in his pocket before standing and walking out the door.

Akaya smiled again as Hiyoshi wrapped the arm around him. "Thanks," he mumbled and draped his arm over his boyfriend’s shoulder to help support himself. As they trudged toward his room, he tried to force his eyes to focus, but only ended up giving himself an even worse headache. "Ugh... I want an ice cream," he mumbled, half-jokingly

Hiyoshi was relieved that Akaya wasn’t pushing him away and even let a tiny smirk escape him at the ice cream comment. They didn’t say much on their way to Akaya’s dorm, but once they arrived, Hiyoshi felt relieved. He felt both physically and emotionally drained, but there would be no time to rest. “I’m going to get a wash cloth and some bandages. I think you know better than to fall asleep right now. Are you going to be okay if I leave you alone for a few minutes?” He knew he really shouldn’t, but he needed to get Akaya cleaned up.

Akaya sat down shakily on his bed, grateful to be off the hard tile bathroom floor. "I'm sure I'll manage," he smiled and chuckled a little, even though the action sent pain blossoming through his torso from the large bruise. Man, he probably bruised a rib too. Shit. "I'm sorry to trouble you," he said humbly. He felt bad for inconveniencing Hiyoshi when he knew the other man probably wanted to sleep. He'd had a busy day and hard matches. He wanted to give him a massage and snuggle up in bed with him, but it didn't look like that was going to happen this time.

“You’re not troubling me. I’ll be right back.” Hiyoshi hoped the disappointment wasn’t apparent in his voice and face.

He got what he needed in a hurry, and even stopped by a vending machine in the hall to get Akaya an ice cream. On the way, he noticed the email from Sanada. He was hesitant to read it, and once he did, felt even more anxious, when he probably should have been thankful. The ‘He doesn't want you to see him hurting’ was obvious. He knew that. It was part of why this upset him so much. Akaya never showed him his vulnerable side. Why was he still trying to hide from him? Hiyoshi tried so damn hard to open himself up to his boyfriend, but maybe there were just some things that his brat would never reciprocate. However, this was not the time to think about it. Taking care of him, as Sanada had pointed out, was his first priority.

As soon as Hiyoshi left, Akaya hauled himself back to his feet and waited until his footsteps disappeared down the hall before opening the door and trudging toward the bathroom. He used the wall to keep himself upright but could feel each step getting harder, and he could feel the bile rising in his throat as the world spun around him. Suddenly he really wished his boyfriend hadn't left his side. Damn it. He hated being useless. He was a grown man! He could take care of himself. He took another step and felt his knees give out under him. He caught himself on his hands and knees, but the motion only helped to upset his stomach more. Fuck, if only the room would stop spinning.

On his way back, Hiyoshi was outraged to find Akaya in the hallway, back on the floor again. Running over to him, he seethed between clenched teeth, “What the hell are you doing, brat? I told you I’d be right back!” He had to take everything he’d been holding in one hand while the other guided Akaya slowly up by the waist off the hard carpet to lean back against his chest. He nearly hissed from behind him into his ear, “Where are you trying to go?”

Hiyoshi’s angry scolding was like music to his ears. He wished the other had picked him up a different way though because he felt the bile in the back of his throat this time. He swallowed it back down, but just barely, "B-bathroom," he managed to whimper out before he clamped a hand over his mouth. He was not going to throw up in the hallway, he wasn't that pathetic.

Oh. Hiyoshi adjusted his hold on Akaya and quickly half led, half carried him, only the few more steps down the hall it took to get to the bathroom. Escorting him to the nearest stall with a stone faced expression, he could feel his anger and guilt growing by the second but refused to let it show.

As soon as the toilet was close enough, Akaya fell to his knees and proceeded to lose everything he'd eaten in the past couple hours. After he'd finally stopped, he just sat there groaning, and gave a few last dry heaves before looking over at Hiyoshi. "S-sorry..." he mumbled and reached up to flush the toilet, "You uh... is it too late to take you up on that offer to take me to the hospital?" he frowned and rubbed at his eyes. He felt pathetic. He didn't want Hiyoshi to see him looking weak. He wanted to always be able to smile for the other man.

Was it bad that Akaya asking him to take him to the hospital made him smile? Some of the tension left him. “Of course not, idiot. There’s no reason for you to be sorry.” Once he was sure Akaya was done, he helped bring him over to the sink so he could wash his mouth. He then pulled his phone out and pushed the speed dial for his personal taxi service. “The taxi will be here in a few minutes. I’ll grab a few things for you out of your room in case you have to stay over night and then we’ll go out to the curb. Okay?”

Akaya groaned and pouted at Hiyoshi, "Nooooo… I don't wanna stay there overnight. Hospitals freak me out," He rinsed out his mouth and leaned back against the counter. He reached out to his boyfriend and waited to be assisted, once again feeling like crap for being a burden on him. Why was he smiling?

“You’ll stay over night if they tell you to.” Instead of helping him away from the counter, Hiyoshi took a second to lean into Akaya for a brief hug that he needed. ‘Stop making me worry like this, brat.’ He said mentally to Akaya, but not daring to say it out loud. Instead, he offered, “If you’re good while we’re at the hospital, you get this.” He said, leaning back to show him the ice cream bar. “Or whatever other kind of ice cream you want. Don’t worry, we’ll only stay as long we need to.”

Akaya looked ready to cry (he blamed the head wound) and he wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi, pulling him back against him again. "Thank you Wakashi..." he said against the other man’s shoulder. He couldn't wait to eat the ice cream, because Hiyoshi had been nice enough to buy it for him, "I'm sorry I'm a pain..."

“Yes, you are a pain.” Hiyoshi turned his head into Akaya’s curls and breathed in his scent. “Always a pain… but you’re my pain, and I don’t plan on getting rid of you any time soon.” It was very out of character for him to say something like that, but it felt good to say. There were still a lot of issues for the two of them to work out, but right now they had a taxi to catch. “I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of bathrooms. Let’s go.”

Akaya smiled against Hiyoshi’s shoulder and kissed it gently. "Good, 'cause you're stuck with me whether you like it or not," he teased and slowly pushed away from the counter. "But yeah... I don't want to be anywhere near tile for a while..." He chuckled and waited for Hiyoshi to help him toward the door.

 

They had been at the hospital for almost four hours before the doctors finally gave the okay for Akaya to leave. Akaya had to have an MRI scan done to make sure there was no lasting damage, which there wasn’t (thank goodness), but due to the concussion and other injuries, he had to rest and not be physically active for about a week. Akaya had behaved fairly well while they were there, at least as far as Hiyoshi could see. Hiyoshi hadn’t been allowed in during some of it, so he’d waited in the waiting room for more than half the time. The only time Akaya had whined was when he’d been told he couldn’t play tennis for a week, which was expected. Hiyoshi had a feeling he had a hard battle in front of him to actually get Akaya to follow through with that. Good thing his own schedule was finally somewhat clear and he would actually have time now to stay in and chain him to the bed if need be.

The taxi dropped them back off at the campus and Hiyoshi was now leading them back to Akaya’s room. “Do you want that ice cream I promised you, or do you just want the one I got you earlier? I left it in your mini-freezer before we left.”

Finally, he was free! Akaya hated hospitals, hell, he was pretty sure all of Rikkai hated hospitals, but it didn't matter. He was out and he wasn't nauseous anymore which was awesome. The only side effects he still had were the occasional dizzy spells and a killer headache, but he'd taken some medicine for the headache. His jaw still ached from the kick and his ribs were sore as well, but he'd had worse. He hated being banned from playing tennis, but the way the doctor had described his brain rattling around inside his head had grossed him out enough to do as the lady said.

As they walked back toward the dorms, Akaya felt the aspirin kicking in and smiled. "Both!" He said happily and laced his hand with his boyfriend’s, squeezing it gently.

They were still out in public. Hiyoshi almost froze and pulled his hand away when he felt Akaya’s hand in his, but forced himself not to. He kept telling himself he could get used to this; he could push his embarrassment away. “Alright,” he answered, trying to cover any discomfort he might feel with a smirk. “How does the small ice cream shop on the east side of campus sound? I think it’s still open.” And it was the closest.

"I love that place!" Akaya said happily and squeezed the other man’s hand again, "You're totally treating though," he smirked and looked over at his boyfriend. He was grateful to him for not teasing him or thinking he was stupid for getting hurt. For going to the hospital with him, even though he really wished Hiyoshi hadn't had to see him like that. At least he could smile now and show Hiyoshi the way he made him feel.

“Don’t I always?” Hiyoshi mock sighed as he squeezed Akaya’s hand back. The embarrassment was still there, but Akaya was a good distraction. When they arrived at the ice cream counter, he ordered himself sweet potato and green tea swirl then turned towards Akaya, “What would you like?” They were the only ones at the stand right then, probably because it was getting late and it was too cold for ice cream.

"Heh heh," Akaya looked over the menu happily and got a mouthwatering mix of chocolate and chocolate chip cookie dough. Almost instantly after it was handed to him, he dug in, reveling in the sweet chocolaty sugary goodness. The first bite made him feel better immediately and it only helped to secure that, yes, ice cream was magical, no matter what his senpai said.

They walked with their ice cream back to Akaya’s room. Hiyoshi was glad that the brat was looking much better than earlier, although he really needed to change his shirt. Akaya hadn’t let him grab an extra set of clothes earlier, insisting he wouldn’t need them. “You should change.” Hiyoshi pointed out as they entered the room.

Akaya set his ice-cream down on the desk and looked down at his stained shirt. He'd gotten blood on it, and the smell of bathrooms and the hospital didn't help. He pulled it and his pants off and threw them into the corner so he was left only in his boxers. He picked up his ice cream and started to eat again with a happy grin, "There, better?"

Hiyoshi nodded with a chuckle, and then sat down tiredly on the bed to finish his own ice cream and watch a half naked Akaya. If it weren’t for the nasty bruises forming on his boyfriend’s side and face, he would have said it was moments like these that made the world tolerable. He then broke the silence by asking the question he’d been meaning to ask Akaya for over 5 hours now, “Did you enjoy the tournament?”

Akaya looked over at his boyfriend and grinned ear to ear like he didn’t have a bandage on his forehead or a bruise on his face, and sat down next to him. "It was really, really cool! You looked great out there and you kicked ass!"

Hiyoshi leaned back against the wall, smiling back at Akaya’s enthusiasm. “I should have won that one kata match.” He thought back only slightly annoyed over it. “The only reason they gave it to the other guy was because I think the judges judged me harsher based on my status and previous performance.” It really wasn’t fair in his opinion, but he wasn’t going to complain about it. It was just a small fraternity hosted tournament. “I was happy with the combat matches though, Kei…” He stopped abruptly. Shit. He didn’t want to think about his final match with Keisuke. That was going to be a sore spot for a while.

Akaya watched him talk and his smile didn't even falter when Hiyoshi thought of Keisuke and stopped talking. He leaned over and placed a soft kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. "You were amazing," he whispered with a little smirk.

Hiyoshi smiled gratefully and pulled him in for another soft kiss that ended up dragging out for a minute or two, not that he was complaining. It left him feeling much more relaxed, relaxed enough to ask the question that had been nagging at him. “What happened, anyway?” He knew it may be better not to ask or even bring it up, but he really felt like he needed to know. “Why did you ask me to stay away from him in the first place? And how did the two of you end up like that?” Suzuki-san and he had never been close per-say, but he still couldn’t believe it had happened. He was almost afraid of the answer since he didn’t want to think that Akaya had actually instigated it. He refused to jump to that conclusion.

Akaya snuggled up to Hiyoshi’s side and rested his head on the other man’s shoulder with a little frown. "When I saw you guys, he was giving you the look...." he mumbled, "It's the ‘I'm going to sleep with you later’ look. I got worried..." he finished off his ice cream and set the container aside. "When I went to the bathroom, he stood there staring at me and we talked for a minute before he grabbed me and hit my head against the wall. Then kicked me, then you showed up," he smiled a little and kissed Hiyoshi’s cheek.

It took a minute for all of what Akaya said to sink in. Akaya was the master of how to make a long story short, sometimes missing crucial facts, but right now he was focusing on his first sentence. “The look?” Hiyoshi felt the need to laugh. “That’s ridiculous! He’s never said or done anything like that before.” Even the thought made him feel uncomfortable. He gave Akaya a look that insinuated ‘are you sure you didn’t bang your head before you came to the tournament?’ Truthfully, it was difficult for Hiyoshi to imagine anyone feeling that way about him. It still confused him sometimes why Akaya did. “Something must have happened to make him angry enough to take it out on you like that.”

"Yeah, the look." Akaya sat back to look at Hiyoshi with a look that said, 'You don't believe me?' "I know that look Wakashi," he said firmly and added quietly as an after thought, "I'm a master of that look," he leaned back against the wall and stared at the other side of the room. "Yeah, he was pissed off because I'm with you and not him."

“It’s not that I don’t believe you…” Hiyoshi sighed. There was just no way. “I just think it might have been misinterpreted. If he really felt that way towards me, don’t you think in all the years we’ve known each other, he would have said something or I would have noticed?” He knew that supposedly Akaya had a lot of experience in these types of things, but maybe he was just misreading the circumstances. “I’m not trying to make excuses for him or anything, but that’s seems like a pretty absurd reason to attack you. Are you sure?”

"Of course I'm sure," Akaya growled and moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, "He said that you are his and I'm just in the way. You just probably never noticed. The guy's crazy. Who knows what's been going through his head."

Hiyoshi didn’t want to believe it, but… if what Akaya said was true… That meant that he was partly to blame for what happened. Hiyoshi’s eyes went wide at the realization. Did he just never notice as Akaya had said? He knew that he had, on more than one occasion, been tempted to thoroughly thrash Shishido for multiple reasons, all having to do with Choutarou. Of course he hadn’t gone through with it, but when he was younger that had mostly been due to Choutarou’s interference. When he was angry, really angry… it was sometimes hard to hold his temper back. If he had noticed Keisuke’s feelings for him as Choutarou had… could he have prevented this? He suddenly felt very ashamed and had to cover his face, not wanting Akaya to see him. In fact, Akaya had every right to be angry at him over this. Akaya looking at him as if he had been betrayed from the other side of the bed only made it worse.

In the end, all the martial artist could do was whisper out a broken, “I’m sorry.” He got up from the bed, wishing he’d never asked in the first place.

Akaya watched Hiyoshi stand and sighed quietly. Somehow they always came back to this. At least for tonight he wanted to change that, to make everything right again. He stood and moved to wrap his arms around Hiyoshi. "Look, I'm not upset. I'm happy I got to fight for you, okay? And yeah I got in one good hit, so it wasn't just me getting wailed on. And most importantly, it's not your fault," He assured quietly.

Hiyoshi had a hard time believing that this wasn’t in some way his fault, but Akaya obviously wasn’t going to hold it against him, and would probably not be too happy if he became upset in front of him. Not to mention, he didn’t want to appear weak. Determined to put this aside and beat himself up for it later in private, he turned around in boyfriend’s arms, trying to not to sound too fake when he joked, “I thought you were the one who’s supposed to be the pain.”

Hiyoshi was forcing himself. Akaya frowned. "Hey listen to me," he growled quietly. "It is NOT your fault Wakashi... Why don't you believe me?" he asked quietly. Man... He hated when the doctor was right sometimes. He'd been warned of his emotions being a bit over the top for the rest of the day, but he hadn't believed her until now.

Hiyoshi was tempted to respond but thought better of it. He had already decided to lock his thoughts and words away to be dealt with later on his own. “I get it. It’s not my fault,” he replied smoothly. Though he may not be good at lying to others, when it came to lying to himself, he was a champ. He leaned forward and kissed Akaya’s forehead. “Let’s just drop it.”

Akaya frowned again, but let it drop as well. "Whatever," he mumbled and hugged Hiyoshi closer. He couldn't force the other man to talk to him, no matter how much he wanted to.

Problem gone for now, Hiyoshi began running a hand through Akaya’s hair. Akaya was nice and snuggly against him, but he didn’t like the fact they were still standing in the middle of the room. It would probably be best if they just went to bed. He trailed a few kisses down the side of Akaya’s face. “I need you to let go of me so I can get undressed for bed.”

At the word ‘undressed,’ Akaya’s ears perked up and he smirked. "You don't need me to let go. I'll help you," he said silkily and slid his hands up under Hiyoshi’s shirt before tugging it up.

Hiyoshi chuckled as his boyfriend more than happily began the task of undressing him. It was almost comedic how predictable Akaya was when it came to this kind of situation. Hiyoshi had become way too used to it and even had started to enjoy it.

Once he got Hiyoshi’s pants undone, Akaya pushed them to the floor and ran his hand’s slowly up the other mans thighs. The beautifully defined muscles always left him speechless. He bent to kiss along Hiyoshi’s chest and sighed happily. No matter how long the day, this was enough to make him feel better.

Hiyoshi let out a barely whispered groan as he let himself be maneuvered by his boyfriend. He hated to admit it, but every once in a while he liked it when Akaya took control like this, in fact, sometimes he preferred it. “Wouldn’t you rather continue this on the bed?” he asked amusedly. He already knew the answer though; Akaya was always ready to go, no matter where they were.

"Hnn... If you want," Kirihara murmured and slowly backed up and crawled onto the bed. He laid himself out in a rather seductive pose and waited. Hiyoshi wouldn't be able to resist him, he was sure of it.

Sometimes it was really hard not to laugh outright when Akaya was so blatantly trying to seduce him; it was cute (and almost always worked). He contained himself though since right now he wanted Akaya on top of him and not pouting at him. He followed Akaya onto the bed and kissed him lightly on the lips, letting Akaya think whatever he wanted. He then proceeded to nibble and suck at Akaya’s lips, encouraging him to follow as he backed up and lay down on his back, positioning Akaya over him.

Akaya smirked as Hiyoshi kissed him and didn't put up any resistance as he was pulled on top of his boyfriend. He let their hips rest together; rolling them slowly and patiently against each other as he trailed his lips down the other man’s neck. He could taste the saltiness of old sweat and the bitterness sent shivers down his spine. A quiet groan filled the silence, but he couldn't tell who it came from, him or Hiyoshi. It didn't really matter.

Hiyoshi wanted to keep going, wanted to feel Akaya’s lips on him, and keep up those amazing hip movements. After today, he wanted to get lost in the act. Let Akaya take control. His eyes closed and his lips let loose small sounds of satisfaction. However, his guilty conscience caught up with him and he laid a hand on Akaya’s head, gently indication for him to stop. “You need to rest…”

Even before Akaya felt the hand in his hair, slowly tugging him away, he knew they were going to have to stop. He was already starting to feel the pain in his side, cramping up his muscles and his jaw was aching. Damn. He hated it when Hiyoshi was right. He let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah. I know..." he mumbled.

Frustrated at having to stop, but glad that Akaya had agreed without a fuss, Hiyoshi leaned up to place one last small kiss on Akaya’s lips. “Goodnight,” he said with a small smile, wrapping his arms around the other boy lightly, carefully avoiding the bruises.

Pulling the blanket over them, Akaya snuggled up to Hiyoshi’s side and closed his eyes, groaning as the movement aggravated the bruise on his side. "Hmm... Naa, Wakashi..." he mumbled, exhaustion already catching up to him and pulling him toward sleep, "You gotta teach me how to use nunchucks later..." He trailed off into a light snore as his breathing evened out and sleep stole him away, leaving no room for argument.

Hiyoshi listened to the soft sound of Akaya breathing next to him, the smile never leaving his face. He looked like such an innocent little brat when asleep, despite the forming bruises, which oddly seemed to add to his charm. He gazed fondly at that small pointy nose and dark eyelashes that rested against slightly tanned skin. Dark locks that were soft to the touch and tangled so easily in his hands. Akaya’s slightly parted lips which had felt so good on his were breathing evenly.

He reached over to Akaya’s alarm clock (which of course was shaped as a tennis ball) and set it to wake him up in two hours. Doctor’s orders. But it wasn’t often that Akaya fell asleep before him, so Hiyoshi would stay awake a bit longer and take advantage of the view.


	14. Chapter 14

Hiyoshi was feeling self-conscious as he walked across campus to his dorm. After school had ended that day he’s gone out to do one of his least favorite things in the world, clothes shopping. Ever since he and Akaya had met again in college, the brat had been teasing him relentlessly about his clothes and he’d finally gotten fed up with it. He’d never paid close attention to what he wore outside of a gi or uniform, most of the clothes having been chosen by his mother. He’d thought it couldn’t be that hard, right? WRONG. Thankfully, An showed up to help. After taking her out to lunch, she’d basically picked out an entire new wardrobe for him.

Now it felt like people were staring at him, even though he knew that was just paranoia. He wasn’t wearing anything different from everyone else. Some very dark blue, almost black, jeans that were entirely too tight in all the wrong places but were standably comfortable, and a black polo shirt with a grey design on it in the upper corner. The shirt was tighter than he liked as well, but An had called it ‘hip’ so he went along with it. He didn’t really care what she picked out for him as long as Akaya liked it…err… stopped getting on his case about it.

The tall seaweed headed boy ran full speed across campus followed only by the distant yell of "AKAYA!" that echoed off the buildings and made a couple unsuspecting students look around in confusion. Perhaps storing the snake he'd caught in Sanada's duffel bag hadn't been the best of ideas. He glanced over his shoulder for a moment and tripped, falling face first onto a patch of grass. Well, at least it hadn't been pavement.

Was it bad that Hiyoshi’s first instinct when he heard his boyfriend’s name being yelled angrily across campus was to smirk? Shaking his head when he saw Akaya running, he started walking after him when he saw him fall. He wasn’t overly concerned, it was his brat after all, but Akaya was supposed to still be resting from the concussion. It only took a few more steps to reach him.

When Akaya started pushing himself up he realized there was someone standing in front of him. "Heh, heh. Sorry 'bout that," he laughed and apologized as he stood up only to come face to face with his boyfriend. "Eh...?" He looked Hiyoshi over and blinked, "....You...." Seeing his boyfriend in trendy clothes was a shock to say the least, but it brought a giant smile to his face. "Wow... You grew a fashion sense," he said teasingly and hugged the other man quickly, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek as he did.

Hiyoshi was about to say some snide remark when Akaya commented on his clothes and was given a hug and kiss. Damn it. How do you scold someone after that? Crossing his arms over his chest, he smirked when he saw Sanada looking around angrily for something… or someone, probably his boyfriend. “I see your fukubuchou is looking for you.” He raised a curious eyebrow. “Is there something I should know about?”

Akaya paled at the mention of Sanada and turned around slowly to see his fukubuchou red faced and looking royally pissed off. He spun around to Hiyoshi quickly. "Something you should know? Eh heh heh--N-Nothing really uh---" He could feel the little prickle on the back of his neck that signaled Sanada was getting closer. He grabbed Hiyoshi’s hand with the most innocent smile he could muster with all the blood draining from his face. "Run." Without waiting for Hiyoshi to respond, he started running toward his room, his hand holding Hiyoshi’s wrist firmly.

Akaya ran as fast as he could, dragging his boyfriend behind him, and laughing the whole way back to his room. Once they finally made it, he locked the door behind him and braced his desk chair under the knob before collapsing onto the floor to pant and laugh.

‘EH!?’ Before Hiyoshi could give a response, he was being dragged running through campus all the way to Akaya’s dorm. It was a good thing he was in shape or he might have fainted from lack of oxygen between panting and laughing at Akaya’s actions. “What the hell did you do?” Hiyoshi asked between laughs to his boyfriend down on the floor. “And is that really necessary?” He pointed the chair blocking the door.

"Apparently fukubuchou didn't like Hachi," Akaya said with a devilish little grin, "And trust me, fukubuchou could and would kick down my door if I didn't put that there..." he sighed as he finally got control of his breathing and sat up. "Haaaa that was great."

“Hachi.” Hiyoshi echoed in a dead-pan voice. Nope. He didn’t want to know. “Well I don’t plan on sticking around for Sanada-san’s arrival. I was on my way to my own room before I saw your mad dash.” He needed to put his new clothes away. He was still carrying the two large bags with him that thankfully hadn’t ripped. He walked back towards the door and started to remove the chair.

Akaya leaped up and held the chair in place just as there was a loud pounding on the door, "AKAYA!! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!!" Sanada yelled and banged his fist on the door again.

The chibi demon winced and held a finger up to his smiling mouth to shush Hiyoshi. After another couple minutes the sound of heavy angry footsteps padded off down the hall and he let out a sigh. "Woah that was close..." He looked at the bags his boyfriend was holding and blinked. "What're those?"

Okay. That had been kind of alarming… Hiyoshi had backed away from the door and his entire body tensed when Sanada yelled through it. Seeing the brat do the same made him want to laugh though. “Uh… Nothing important. Is it alright for me to leave now?” He was NOT going to tell his boyfriend he’d just spent a small fortune on a new wardrobe to make himself look good for… err… make the brat shut up about his clothes.

"Yeah, that's not suspicious at all." Akaya rolled his eyes. "You're not leaving 'til I see now," he said with another evil little smirk. "It can't be that bad." His eyes went wide with realization and his demon smile got bigger until it stretched ear to ear. "Unless you finally got yourself some porn and sex toys." Now he definitely wanted to see. "You had to go pretty all out too if you got bags that big."

Hiyoshi’s eyes narrowed. Damn it. He hated the fact he couldn’t hide things to save his life. “Of course not, idiot!” He said in exasperation, positioning the bags in back of him and backing up slowly. “I told you it’s not important. Besides, even if it was, I think you have more than enough porn already lying around here.” It was hard to miss really. Akaya sucked at subtle.

Akaya positioned himself in front of his door and made sure the chair was still securely in place as he watched Hiyoshi with his smirk growing by the second. "Come on Wakashi, just lemme see. I wanna see what kind of kinky stuff you got. We can try it out."

“I didn’t get anything kinky!” Hiyoshi hollered and then turned red at having said the word. This was bad. Akaya was going to be a pain now until he got what he wanted. “Out of the way brat, before I make you.” He knew that he couldn’t really make Akaya do anything, but he was not above physically restraining his boyfriend.

"Oh? Make me, huh?" Akaya approached Hiyoshi slowly and slid his arms around the other boy’s neck. "That could be fun," he purred and pressed his lips against his boyfriend’s in a slow seductive kiss.

Fuck. Why did threats never work on his boyfriend? …And why was he so weak to Akaya’s kisses? Hiyoshi returned the kiss, but didn’t let himself get too swept away in it. Slowly, he transferred both bags into one hand behind his back. He then brought his free hand up to wrap around Akaya waist. Pulling him closer, he began to back him up towards the door. If he could just get to the chair…

Smirking into the kiss, Akaya set his leg back and pressed subtly against Hiyoshi, using his height to his advantage. One hand on his waist meant both bags were in one hand. Perfect. He slid his hand down Hiyoshi’s arm and grabbed the bag handles as he licked at his boyfriend’s lips teasingly. He would find out what was in those bags if it killed him.

They stopped moving before they reached the chair. Shit. He felt Akaya’s hand slide down and grab the bag handles but there was nothing he could do to stop him without breaking the hold he had on him or potentially hurting him. Instead, he gave one last warning against the other’s parted lips, “Let go, or else…”

"Or else what?" The chibi demon questioned in a husky whisper, "Or else you'll use the contents of the bag on me?" If Hiyoshi was going through this much trouble to hide what he got, it must be good.

“No, I’ll do this.” The martial artist swiped Akaya’s unsuspecting feet out from under him to distract him, used all his strength to hold him up with the arm around his waist and swung him around to half carry him and toss him onto the bed. He had planned on making a run for it, but had not counted on Akaya’s firm grip on the bags. The pull resulted in them landing in a pile on the bed, with Akaya under him.

“Oof! Damn it…” Hiyoshi cursed from his new position on top of his boyfriend, noticing the grip they both still had on the bags. “That was not how that was supposed to go...” He buried his head in his boyfriend’s neck. If Akaya managed to open the bags and found ‘it’, he was never going to live it down.

Akaya yelped very ungracefully as he fell back on the bed and grunted as his boyfriend landed on him. He blinked up at his ceiling as if expecting it to tell him what the hell just happened, but when it remained silent, he smiled and started laughing. "Whatever you got can't be that bad. Seriously, Wakashi. Just lemme see! I promise I won't laugh or make fun of you... unless you bought girls underwear or something... then I reserve the right to laugh my ass off and harass you about it for the rest of your life."

“Don’t wanna.” Hiyoshi muffled into Akaya’s neck, having now reverted to whiny child mode that Akaya sometimes brought out in him, especially whenever he woke him up in the middle of night, but he let his grip on the bags slacken. “If I ever buy something like that, please just kill me.”

"K!" Akaya chirped happily and tugged the bags away quickly so he could pour the contents out on the bed. He craned his neck to look eagerly but his smile twitched when he saw the pile of clothes. "Eh? Clothes?" He glanced back at Hiyoshi and chuckled a little, "Why didn't you want me to see that you bought clothes?"

“Uh…” Where was it? Hiyoshi sat up and looked around. It must be hidden in the clothes somewhere. Maybe if he just acted natural, Akaya wouldn’t notice it. “I just… um… didn’t want you to see that I bought new clothes that you actually approved of. It wasn’t me though. An picked them out.” True enough. The smaller embarrassment to hide the much larger one. He began carefully stuffing the clothes back into the bags.

"Hey woah woah," Akaya set his hand on Hiyoshi’s, stopping him from putting the clothes away. "Clothes I'll approve of?" Then that meant what he was wearing now too... He grinned. "You gotta try em on for me. I wanna see." He started shifting through the clothes and picking up a couple of the shirts. Some of them were really nice, expensive too. He picked up another shirt and noticed a magazine that was hidden under it. "Eh? What's this?" he mumbled as he reached out to pick it up.

“No!” Hiyoshi’s hand shot out to grab Akaya’s wrist. “It’s nothing,” he said hurriedly, “just came with the clothes. Ha, ha...” He took the hand in his, keeping it away from the magazine still mercifully hidden. “Now that you’ve seen them, isn’t that enough? I’m not a girl who likes to play dress up.”

Akaya’s eyes went wide at Hiyoshi’s loud protest, but he didn't comment. He'd check out that magazine later. "There's no fun in that! Come on, I told you I wouldn't laugh, I wanna see," He pouted and kissed Hiyoshi lightly, "Please?"

Hiyoshi was glad Akaya had stopped going for the magazine, but was now tempted to sulk. Why was this happening to him? Oh, yeah… he had a bratty boyfriend whom it was almost impossible to say no to. “Fine, One. What do you want me to try on for you?”

"Hmmm," Akaya purred smoothly, his face lighting up the instant his boyfriend agreed. He started looking through the clothes curiously, making sure to avoid the magazine - for now. He picked up a pair of rather tight looking jeans, a collared shirt and a t-shirt before handing all three to his boyfriend, "Here, try these on."

Rolling his eyes, Hiyoshi took the clothes and got off the bed to change. It didn’t look like Akaya was interested in the magazine anymore, which put his mind at rest. Facing away from Akaya, he took the shirt, then pants off. The pants Akaya had picked out were, of course, the hardest ones to get on. But it was his own damn fault for buying them, so he wasn’t going to complain.

As soon as Hiyoshi’s back was turned Akaya grabbed the magazine, but before he could read it, he got distracted by the sight of his boyfriend’s strong back. He swallowed hard and tore his eyes away reluctantly to look down at the magazine. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at Hiyoshi’s back again before flipping it open silently and browsing over the articles.

Why did Akaya have to pick out the most frustrating clothing? He sighed as he finished changing and turned around to face his boyfriend. Akaya was reading the… “Hey!” He marched over and grabbed the magazine out of his boyfriend’s hands. “I told you to ignore it!” He was sure his face looked like a tomato now. He really hated his blush reflex. One of these days he would find a way to stop it. He had bought the magazine on a whim, and nearly died in the process. It was one of those cheesy magazines about ‘how to please your lover’ and all that crap. He’d never even thought of buying something stupid like that before, but it couldn’t hurt to look… He really regretted the decision now.

Akaya couldn't say he was surprised when the magazine was plucked out of his hands. Now he understood why Hiyoshi was so embarrassed. He looked over his boyfriend’s outfit and smiled, "Sexy, I like it." He grabbed the other man’s arm and tugged him back onto the bed and into a hug. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, you know," he said softly and nuzzled Hiyoshi’s neck.

“You’re joking, of course it is. I’ll have you know that it was a complete impulse buy against my better judgment and I will never do it again. In fact, you can burn it for all I care.” At least he could relax now. Akaya had already found him out.

"Don't say that," Akaya said with a little frown and pulled away to look at his boyfriend. "It makes me happy," he mumbled and stared straight into the other boy’s eyes. "Unless there's some other lover you're trying to please. Then yeah, I'd be a bit pissed off," he smiled and ran his hand through Hiyoshi’s hair.

Hiyoshi could only sigh as his boyfriend’s eyes met his. “Idiot.” Averting his eyes, he said earnestly, “You know I don’t. As it is, just having you around is a handful.” A very welcome handful. He smiled at the thought, bringing Akaya’s hand to his lips and gently kissing it. “Besides, aren’t I the one who should be worried about other lovers?” He smirked teasingly, “and you don’t need a stupid magazine to know how to please them.”

Akaya smiled wide and moved to nibble at his boyfriend’s ear. "You don't have to worry," he whispered softly, "I've only got one lover to please." It was true, he didn't need the magazines, but he still read them. One had to stay current after all if they were to be known as a master.

Turning his head to meet Akaya’s eyes again, Hiyoshi gave him a soft smile he reserved only for the brat before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on his lips. “Hmm… Well, if we’re talking about pleasing me…” He pulled back, not losing eyes contact. “It would please me to know what you were doing running through campus from the direction of the tennis courts when you’re supposed to be resting from your concussion.”

How did Hiyoshi always manage to ruin the moment? "Eh heh heh... I uh was just dropping something off for fukubuchou... I know I'm not supposed to be playing or nothing," Akaya smiled and tried to hide that he was lying through his teeth. It had been a while since the concussion and he felt fine, so why couldn't he play?

The brat was lying. Hiyoshi couldn’t always tell from his tone or face, Akaya was too good of a liar for that. He knew because it was impossible for Akaya to go near the courts without playing. Lately, through trial and error, he had been trying to learn the best way to get the truth out of his boyfriend in these situations. Today’s tactic was distraction. To Hiyoshi’s knowledge, in their relationship, nothing distracted Akaya as well as skin.

Getting up off the bed, Hiyoshi slowly began to remove his collared shirt. “You know…” Collared shirt gone. “I really hate it…” T-shirt off. “…when you lie to me.” All that was left on were the really tight jeans Akaya had picked out. They were going to be a pain to get off later. He leaned over his boyfriend on the bed, running a hand through Akaya’s hair near the cut on his forehead. “You know I’m just worried about the brain cells you still have in tact, right?” It would be pathetic to not pick up some skills after being seduced nearly every day by the self-called ‘master seducer’.

Akaya raised an eyebrow as Hiyoshi got up but it didn't take long for him to realize what Hiyoshi was doing. "Wha--" Collared shirt gone. "You..." T-shirt gone and his mouth was hanging open wide, "Oh..." Hiyoshi ran a hand through his hair and his heart skipped a beat. He sputtered a little more, "I--" When had Hiyoshi gotten so... so hot? "Wakashi... I... It was just one game... I promise..." How could he deny the other man when he asked like well... that?!

Game. Hiyoshi. Apparently he’d found the winning tactic. His mind was a doing a mental happy dance, but his mouth was doing something else entirely. “Oh? One game…” He held himself over his boyfriend without actually letting his body touch him except for the one hand still combing slowly through his hair, eyes roaming over him as if deciding which end to start devouring first. “What does it take to get you to listen? Do I have to chain you to the bed?”

That look was killing him and sending a pulsing heat straight to Akaya’s groin. "Nn... You'll chain me to the bed?" he smirked and held his arms above his head, bringing his wrists together, "What would you do with me if you did?" He purred and looked over the other man’s bare chest. If it got Hiyoshi to chain him to the bed and have his way with him, he would do whatever the other said, even if it meant no tennis for another week. It would be worth it.

Hiyoshi’s eyes widened. He hadn’t actually been serious about chaining him to the bed, having meant it as more of a threat. Why did Akaya look so excited by the idea? …And why did the thought suddenly sound very appealing. He hoped he wasn’t turning into some sicko. He blamed it on Akaya for doing funny things to his brain.

“I haven’t quite decided yet. Maybe I would take all your toys away…” He supported himself with the hand previously in Akaya’s hair while the other ran up Akaya’s side, taking his time and dragging Akaya’s shirt up with it, bringing it above his head and around his wrists. “Maybe I would jerk off in front of you and not let you touch me.” He leaned down and nipped at Akaya’s nose. “Maybe I would just leave you here.” He smirked then dipped his head to lick at his boyfriend’s chest, lightly nipping. “Any suggestions?”

Akaya moaned and looked up at Hiyoshi with a devious and lustful spark in his eye. He liked option number two the best, though he knew he'd be in a lot of pain by the time Hiyoshi was done. "Nn...You can do whatever you want... but, don't leave..." He purred and tugged experimentally at his wrists that were trapped by his t-shirt, just as Hiyoshi teased his nipple. "Ah! Nn... Wakashi..." he groaned and arched up against the other boy. He didn't know what had made his boyfriend so bold, but he loved it. He really did.

The sounds Akaya was making were music to his ears. What was that word Gakuto used to call him? Oh, yeah... “I didn’t know you were the masochistic type,” he drawled as he made his way to the other nipple, giving it the same tender care and then applying a little more pressure with his teeth. Seeing Akaya like this was an insane turn-on. He didn’t know what had gotten into him, but he had no intention of stopping just yet. He brushed his hands slowly and lightly down Akaya’s arms and sides, squeezing his waist while placing kisses lower and lower down his abs and stomach, but stopped at his waist band. “I really don’t know how I should properly punish you since you seem to enjoy it so much.”

"Mm... Occasionally...." Akaya groaned and writhed under the attention. He craned his neck and watched Hiyoshi kiss down his chest. "F-fuck..." He dropped his head back against the bed and clenched his hands into fists. "I always enjoy it when you do this," he whispered, "but damn it's torture not being able to touch you back..."

Hiyoshi traced lines over his boyfriend’s waist band, “I’ll have to kee…” He froze. Someone was knocking at the door. FUCK. The mood completely ruined for the moment, he gave Akaya a questioning glance. “Should I open it?”

Akaya could have gone into demon mode and killed whoever was on the other side of the door the moment they knocked. How was it possible to have such horrible timing? Damn. "Yeah, if you want." It wasn't like he could answer it himself at the moment.

Hiyoshi was non-too-happy about the situation, but since the knocking was rather insistent he figured he should just get it over with and answer it. Groaning, he got up and went to the door. In his frustration, he even forgot he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Good thing the pants were so tight, nothing was overly visible. He moved the chair out of the way and opened the door with a glare. He was shocked to find it was someone from his martial arts fraternity actually looking for him.

A few quiet words were exchanged and then Hiyoshi closed the door and made his way back to Akaya. He put the t-shirt back on he’d been wearing earlier since it was easier, then untangled Akaya’s wrists from his shirt in a hurry. “Sorry, I’ll be right back.” He kissed him quickly then was out the door.

Now the chibi demon definitely wanted to kill someone. As Hiyoshi freed his hands he sat up and stared at the now closed door. He groaned then looked down at the bulge in his pants. As he reached over for the magazine Hiyoshi had left, he sighed. It was gonna be a long evening.

 

Hiyoshi arrived back almost an hour later. He walked right into Akaya’s room and collapsed onto the bed next to where Akaya was still reading the magazine. He wondered vaguely if it was actually any good. “You are NEVER allowed to get hurt EVER again.” He stated seriously then wrapped his arms around the other’s waist.

When the door opened, Akaya looked up and smiled, "Hey you're ba---ah?" He glanced at his boyfriend and blinked. What the hell had he been doing to wear him out that much? "Heh heh, I doubt that'll happen, but why is that?" He smiled and ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair.

Hiyoshi leaned towards Akaya’s hand, encouraging him not to stop. “One of the newer members of the fraternity got hurt while practicing. The President took off for vacation early and there was no one else there who knew what the hell to do outside of calling the campus nurse, so they came and found me. It was nothing too serious. I just needed to run all over the place, get the facts, record it, and make sure he was taken to the proper hospital.” He was so sick of hospitals and paper work.

"Oh," Akaya said with a little smile, his boyfriend was so responsible (one of them had to be after all) and sexy, but it also meant he was really busy. Well it didn't matter as long as he always came back to him at the end of the day. "I'll do my best not to get hurt again then," it was the least he could do for his boyfriend, "Speaking of break, what are you doing for it?"

“Thank you.” Hiyoshi said gratefully. Concerning break though, even though it was in a few days, he hadn’t really thought about it. “Home, I guess.” He answered simply. It was the obvious answer. “I haven’t been back in over a month now and they’ll be expecting me to be there for at least a week.” He really didn’t want to go back to his parent’s house, knowing he was going to be bored out of his mind for most of it. “You?”

"I dunno. Marui-senpai invited the whole team over for a while. Oh, and I'm gonna go home for a while too, even though it's gonna be boring," he explained simply and stretched his arms above his head, "Heh heh, maybe I'll come visit you." He grinned happily, like it was the best idea he'd had all day.

That was the worst idea Hiyoshi had ever heard. “No.” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see his brat, he just knew putting him and his father in the same prefecture was a bad idea. “You’re better off going to Marui’s.” He was going to miss him, as pathetic as that sounded. He ran his hand lazily up and down Akaya’s chest, wondering if he was going to get even one decent night’s sleep without him there, he was so used to the brat’s presence.

"Eh?!" Akaya’s eyes went wide and he looked down at Hiyoshi in surprise. "Why not?" He knew his boyfriend’s father was strict, but he could behave himself. His senpai’s parents always liked him, why wouldn't Hiyoshi’s? Or was it that the other boy just didn't want him there?

“Trust me, you’d be really bored. My family is very traditional and I’m sure they’ll keep me busy while I’m there anyway.” Hiyoshi knew the minute he got home, his father would put him to work in the dojo. Not that he was complaining, he was used to it and even liked it. Akaya would have nothing to do and he didn’t even want to think about what would happen if his boyfriend met his mother or older brother.

"I can amuse myself," Akaya pouted and poked his boyfriend’s mushroom cap shaped hair. "Come on, I wanna meet 'em. I'll behave, I promise." He set his hand over the one on his chest and rubbed the back of it with his thumb.

Hiyoshi groaned. That house was suffocating for people who weren’t used to it. “I really would rather you not.” He knew that, someday, it would be him and some woman he’d eventually marry in that house; having the same strained relationship as his parents. He didn’t want Akaya to see that. He began laying soft kisses where his head laid on Akaya’s chest, slowly making his way over a nipple, collar bone, light suction on his Adams apple. “You worried you won’t be able to last two weeks without me?” He hated to resort to challenges to keep the boy away, but whatever worked.

Akaya frowned and let out a quiet little groan as Hiyoshi kissed him all over. He had half a mind to push the other boy away and make him tell him why he couldn’t see him during break but the almost teasing and challenging question caught his attention, "So what if I am?" he asked back stubbornly.

Hiyoshi hadn’t expected that. He knew that he’d have trouble going for two weeks without seeing his demon boyfriend, but he’d never thought it might be the same for Akaya. His heart leapt into his throat and he moved his body up so he was once again straddling his boyfriend in a position similar to where they had been before they were interrupted earlier. “Then I’m going to have to make the next few days memorable enough to get us both through it.” He leaned down, lightly sucking on the other boy’s lips, but not putting any pressure on them, teasing him gently, holding Akaya’s body down so that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t lean up into it.

Damn it. He could never stay mad at Hiyoshi, especially not when he was teasing him like that. He struggled against the hold but found he couldn't budge. Interesting. He groaned quietly, his boyfriend was such a tease, but he loved it.

He loved teasing his brat like this, especially when Akaya made those little noises in the back of his throat, making it impossible for Hiyoshi to hold back his own needy moan. He let go and sat up on top of him to take his shirt off then smirked and chucked it across the room. Looking down at his boyfriend below him, he commented with a raised eyebrow. “Well? You expecting me to do all the work?”

It was official. Hiyoshi was trying to kill him. He slid his hands down the other man’s chest, tracing the defined lines of his muscles, "Of course not," he said with a devilish little smirk before flipping their positions and rolling his hips down against Hiyoshi’s. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I did that?" he teased and moved to kiss along the other boy’s neck and chest, leaving a couple dark marks on his collar bone.

“Not mine.” Hiyoshi answered huskily then bit back a low moan as he felt the other’s bruising kisses. He had been hard before, but something about Akaya being on top of him always excited him. Made him feel vulnerable, which scared him more than he wanted to admit, but it was a fear he wanted to explore and conquer. He thought he was going to be insane the moment Akaya straddled his hips and started rocking against him. It felt so good.

"You're tense..." Akaya mumbled against his boyfriend’s chest and glanced up at him, "What's wrong?" he asked softly and slid his hands up along Hiyoshi’s sides then along his tense but defined abs. Had he done something wrong or maybe he was moving too fast? He knew he had to take it slow with Hiyoshi but they'd gone this far before... He moved to kiss him on the lips lightly, hoping to sooth him.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Hiyoshi tried to insist reassuringly. His body didn’t always like to listen to him. He always needed to be either completely in control or completely let himself go. He liked being in control, but when he was, he was never able to entirely feel everything. That’s why he could last for hours on foreplay. On the other hand, when he let his control slip, he gave everything to Akaya, which explained why he never lasted long once he did so. He had yet to figure out a happy medium. “Just kiss me.” He whispered against the other’s lips with closed eyes.

With a little smile, Akaya pressed their lips together again and rolled their hips together slowly and teasingly. It was torture for him, but he knew he wasn't the only one who would be moaning because of it.

Sanada knew how to find Akaya. He'd had years of practice. It wasn't a surprise when he opened the door easily this time. The surprise was when he saw Akaya straddling and kissing Hiyoshi. Ew. His frown darkened and he pulled his hat down a bit. "Akaya," he said threateningly.

Hiyoshi froze under Akaya, face turning ashen. “Sa… Sanada-san…” His lips mouthed but no sound came out. Didn’t the damn people from Rikkai know how to fucking knock!?

Akaya heard the door open and growled. He looked over at Sanada and frowned, "Fukubuchou," he said almost pleadingly. He wasn't even scared of getting in trouble for whatever it was he did earlier (he'd already forgotten) but he was upset to have his time with Hiyoshi interrupted again.

"You put a---that's---" Sanada sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He thought of just slapping Akaya and going to go wash his eyes out with bleach, but he knew with the boy’s recent head injury slapping him could cause irreparable damage. So he did the only thing he could think of; he turned on his heel like he used to in the academy and walked out, slamming the door hard enough to make the whole wall rattle.

Akaya winced as his door slammed but it didn't faze him. He knew he'd get his punishment later, "Now where were--" He looked at the red rather stunned face of his boyfriend and blinked, "we?" He waved his hand in front of Hiyoshi’s face then poked one red cheek, "Hey, you still alive?"

Hiyoshi registered the hand wave in front of his face and then batted away the finger on his cheek with a glare. “Don’t do that.” He felt like sulking. Sanada had seen them like THAT. He was never going to gain the man’s respect at this rate. Grouchily he mumbled, “We need to work on locking the doors…”

"Meh, it was just Sanada-fukubuchou," the Rikkai kouhai mumbled with a little shrug and moved to kiss Hiyoshi again. Sanada had seen him in a lot of worse positions (and in much worse states of dress). The only difference this time was he knew the other party too.

“Yeah, just the man I’ve been trying to earn respect from for the last month.” Hiyoshi replied sarcastically against the lips trying to kiss him. “In case you haven’t noticed, the mood has been ruined.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the door with a vengeance. Stupid door.

Akaya blinked down at him then smiled and started to laugh. "He already respects you, dummy," he said between laughs and rolled off his boyfriend, his body giving a protesting ache at the loss of contact. Oh well, he'd deal with it later, "He has since before he started training with you, or else he wouldn't do that with you. Hell he wouldn't even talk to you if he didn't."

Hiyoshi grumbled unintelligibly under his breath, something about ‘you didn’t have to move away’ and acknowledged what Akaya said skeptically. He knew that Sanada respected him as a martial artist at least, but he couldn’t help but compare himself to the other man whose aura of confidence and control was astounding. Not to mention, he had Akaya’s complete adoration. “If you say so.” He sat up and leaned against the wall, feeling pathetic, and mentally reprimanded himself for already missing his boyfriend’s touch. What the hell was he going to do over break? “Either way, I’m going to Gekokujou over him one of these days.”

Sitting up to lean against the wall next to him, Akaya grinned and looked over at his boyfriend, "Whatever you say," he said jokingly and leaned lightly against the other man’s side. "Gekokujou over him, huh?" He kissed his cheek. He didn't know how the other man planned to do that because he knew just how powerful his fukubuchou was, but if that was his goal, he'd support him.

Hiyoshi knew that Akaya probably didn’t think he could do it, but he would show his boyfriend in time just how stubborn he was when it came to achieving something he wanted. Yes, vacation would be the perfect time to do some heavy training at the dojo. Bringing Akaya against his chest, he ran his hands through his seaweed-curly hair soothingly, telling himself it was for the brat when it was really more for him. “You want to… go out for food or… catch a movie or something?” He asked awkwardly. He still sucked at asking Akaya out, but it usually made the other boy happy. It was still early enough to go. Besides, it would be good to hang out before they left for vacation.

"Really?" Akaya glanced up at his boyfriend and tried not to purr at the petting of his hair, "Okay! Let's go to uh..." He thought about it for a moment and grinned devilishly, "Let's go get dinner then go dancing!" He moved into Hiyoshi's lap and straddled him, still grinning like a mad man. "It'll be fun! And you can wear some of your new clothes!"

Shit. “Who said you get to choose what we do?” Hiyoshi glared up at him. Dinner sounded nice, but why did Akaya always want to go dancing? “You know I’m terrible at dancing. Do you really want to embarrass yourself that much by being seen with me on the dance floor?” Plus, dancing generally meant going to a bar.

"You'll never get better if you don't practice," Akaya’s grin didn't falter even a little, though his boyfriend was giving him a death glare. He moved closer so his nose was against Hiyoshi’s. "Come on, we can go to the club. We don't have to drink or anything. I just wanna dance with you."

Damn it. How was he supposed to say no to that? Turning his face away so he was looking at the wall instead of directly into his boyfriend’s persuasive eyes, Hiyoshi huffed out, “Fine, but you are taking full responsibility if it’s a catastrophe. No jumping around everywhere either. Technically you’re still supposed to be resting. Understood?” He knew he couldn’t be as convincing when we wasn’t looking right at him seriously, but he was wary of being lured into agreeing to anything else.

"Yes sir!" Akaya teased and pulled him into a kiss before climbing off his lap and walking over to the closet to look for something appropriate to wear. "You should wear those tight pants and the shirts you had on earlier. They looked good." He pulled out a pair of leather pants and a white collared shirt that he pulled on and started buttoning up, while he looked around for his chained wallet and his boots. He glanced in the mirror and ran a hand through his hair while watching Hiyoshi out of the corner of his eye.

Sighing with amused exasperation, Hiyoshi got up and began to follow his boyfriend’s lead. He couldn’t help a half grin on his face when Akaya told him what to wear and then complimented him on it. That was, after all, the reason he had spent so long and so much on new clothes. It had been a pain, there were so many styles and designs available it was ridiculous, but it had been worth it. At least his new clothes would help him fit in more with the surroundings. He already couldn’t wait to get out of the pants, but he figured he could last for a few more hours. The shirt he’s been told him to wear was still folded on the desk. He picked it up and put it on quickly then turned around to face Akaya whom he noticed was watching him. “Do I have your approval, Kirihara-san?” He asked jokingly. “Or should I get my hair cut, too?”

Akaya grinned and turned to face the other man with a big smirk on his face, "Hmm, well it would be pretty hot if you cut it short and spiked it," he teased. He liked Hiyoshi’s mushroom hair, but he couldn't resist teasing him a bit. He walked over and wrapped his arms around the other man’s neck and kissed him lightly, "You look awesome," he whispered and gestured toward the door with his head, "Ready to go?"

‘He better be joking.’ Hiyoshi thought worriedly for a moment before he saw the look on Akaya’s face and relaxed. His father would kill him if it wasn’t in a traditional style; he’d had this hair style for as long as he could remember. He nodded and made his way to the door with Akaya behind him to lock up. “What would you like to eat? Yakiniku? Ramen?” He didn’t have a preference, generally leaving the food choices to Akaya.

"How about McDonalds?" Akaya asked with a big grin. Hiyoshi didn't need to know that the reason he wanted to go there was because they had super mario toys in all the happy meals. He gave his boyfriend his best pouty look as he locked the door, "Please?"

Hiyoshi grimaced at the suggestion. He hated overly greasy food, which is what all of McDonalds food composed of. Well, at least his boyfriend was a cheap date, not that he would have cared either way with the look Akaya was giving him. “Fine.” He gave in way too easily sometimes. Besides, he hadn’t been to a McDonalds in years, maybe it had improved.

The McDonalds was very close to campus, catering to the many hungry students during lunch. The dinner crowd had just started to die off by the time they got there. Hiyoshi should have known Akaya had an ulterior motive for going there; hell, he always had one for going anywhere. The food hadn’t been quite as bad as he remembered, but there were many other much better choices, and no matter how much Akaya liked super Mario, he wasn’t going to convince him a toy was worth going back. However, watching him act like his ‘brat’ namesake as he played with the toy and made ridiculous noises (as embarrassing as it was), might have been worth it. Hiyoshi got one, too.

Akaya had practically skipped the whole way to the fast food restaurant and had nearly leaped on his boyfriend when he'd gotten a toy for himself too. While they ate, he drove his over the table making car sounds. He'd gotten Bowser, his favorite, and Hiyoshi had gotten Princess Peach (which he'd tried, and failed miserably, to not laugh at). He got so lost in making his boyfriend race with him that he didn't even notice how many people were staring at them. When he won their third consecutive race (proving once and for all that Bowser was the best) they packed up and headed toward the club with Akaya leading the way.

It didn't take them more than 10 minutes to arrive, which Akaya was thankful for as his shoes weren't exactly comfortable to walk long distances in, not that he would ever admit to it. It would be a girly thing to do and Akaya was definitely not girly. When they walked in they were immediately assaulted with the loud music and thumping of the bass. It was intoxicating and drew a large grin from the wild haired boy. He'd missed this, even though he'd been having fun with Hiyoshi. He'd missed the dancing and the way he could feel the bass vibrating through his whole body.

Looking over the dance floor, Akaya could see it wasn't a very busy night, but it was just busy enough for there to be variety in the patrons. He could see girls dancing with their girlfriends, guys dancing with their girls, and even a pair of guys dancing together. Perfect, maybe it would keep his easily embarrassed boyfriend from running out screaming. He grabbed Hiyoshi’s hand just in case and started to pull him toward the mass of bodies that swayed in time with the music.

‘I’m doing this for Akaya,’ Hiyoshi had to keep reminding himself as he let Akaya pull him through the crowded dance space. He could deal with loud music, he reasoned, it was the crowd he generally had problems with. It wasn’t that he couldn’t stand dancing. On more than one occasion, his mother had made him accompany her to monthly ballroom classes. It was just this kind of dancing, and in public, that he felt self-conscious. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a male couple dancing in the midst of all the other couples. Well, no one seemed to be giving them funny looks…

Once Akaya found a little spot amidst the crowd, he pulled his boyfriend against him and started moving their hips together slowly as he whispered into his ear just loud enough for the other man to hear him, "Just relax. It's only you and me," He gave the ear a quick gentle nip, "Relax and move your hips with mine." He would get his boyfriend dancing by the end of the night, he swore it.

Hiyoshi was embarrassed but determined not to look like an idiot. He closed his eyes, trying to block out all the other couples surrounding them and slowly started to move his hips with Akaya’s to the beat as instructed. He still felt awkward dancing in front of so many people, even if he knew they weren’t looking at him. He couldn’t get his body to relax. The song they were currently dancing to was annoying.

As Hiyoshi’s eyes closed, Akaya smiled a little and pressed their lips together gently. He loved the way they felt together, it was soothing and kept him from worrying about the long break. It was going to be weird not being able to just go hang out in his boyfriend’s room and wait for him to come home, but, hey, he'd lived for this long without Hiyoshi, what was another week or two? Even as he thought it he knew that wasn't true. Break was going to be torture.

The kiss was a welcome distraction. Hiyoshi let himself sink into it, finally, if only for a moment, he forgot about the crowd. Then the song changed to something a bit more tolerable which also made a big difference. He pulled his boyfriend closer to him and let himself be led by his movements, his hips swaying a bit more naturally against Akaya’s.

Akaya smiled and turned in Hiyoshi’s arms so his back was to him and started moving back against him, his hands finding their way into the soft bowl-cut hair. He wasn't as good at dancing as Gakuto, but he could definitely hold his own, and he'd danced with enough men to know just how to move.

The brat was going to drive him crazy if he kept doing that; the combined feel of his hands in his hair and moving against him becoming a little overwhelming. Taking a chance look at some of the other couples around them, Hiyoshi noticed that many were being even more risqué than them. Wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist possessively, he leaned forward to say teasingly in his ear, “I think if I ever catch you dancing like this with someone else, I’m going to have to start killing things.”

As the arms came around his waist, Akaya let out a small groan and rolled his hips back against his boyfriend’s again. The words though, they left him breathless. Hiyoshi cared about him that much, was that protective of him. The thought left a fluttering in his chest and he craned his neck around to steal a heated kiss. That was the only answer he could give because he knew if he ever saw Hiyoshi like this with anyone else he would be killing things too.

One hand left Akaya’s waist to plunge into the back of messy black curls, crushing their mouths together even harder. Their hips never leaving each other while still gyrating in time to the music. His heart raced at the contact and the rest of the world disappeared. It was fact; Hiyoshi couldn’t get enough of the demon brat who had managed to fully embed himself into his life.

Hiyoshi was gasping for breathe by the time they pulled apart, not sure which one of them pulled back first. He gave Akaya a small smile then buried his head in his neck, nuzzling and kissing it lightly.

Akaya panted quietly, completely and utterly swept up by his boyfriend. He faced forward as lips met his neck and couldn't hold back a low moan, "Keep it up," he groaned, "and I'm going to drag you into the bathroom and have my way with you," he half-teased.

“No you won’t.” Hiyoshi teased right back then dragged his lips up to his ear. “Cause if you do I won’t be chaining you to the bed once we get home.” Maybe it was the atmosphere that was making him act this way, or maybe it was just Akaya.

Akaya had always been a very visual person with a very good imagination, when someone said something he saw it in his mind and the image of Hiyoshi above him while he tugged at the restraints on his hands drew a deep moan from him, "Mm, promise?"

Hiyoshi smirked and chuckled lightly into his ear. Instead of answering, he bit down lightly on Akaya’s ear and sucked at it gently. Looking around, he noticed it was getting to be bit crowded on the dance floor. “Let’s get something to drink at the bar and cool off. Then we can talk about what’s going to happen after.” The current song was ending anyway.

Akaya wasn't sure if Hiyoshi did it on purpose or not, but his teasing was such wonderful torture, "Okay," he laced his fingers with his boyfriend’s and led them off the floor, eager to find out what surprises the rest of their evening held. They approached the bar just as two girls got up and left, so he nabbed the barstools and gestured to the bartender who nodded and made his way over, "What do you want?"

“Doesn’t matter, you order for me.” Hiyoshi never knew what to order at these places, always just ordering whatever everyone else was having or drinking whatever the person he was with put in front of him. There were way too many types of drinks and mixes to keep them all straight and he trusted Akaya not to give him something he would regret later. He supposed he could always just order a non-alcoholic drink, but he didn’t want to come off as being un-manly in front of his boyfriend.

Akaya shrugged and ordered himself something strong and bitter and a drink that was much more mild for his boyfriend. He'd rather the other boy be mostly sober when they got back. His own nose would be safer that way. Not long after placing his order, the drinks were placed in front of them and he wasted no time in starting on it.

The mushroom-capped boy had to admit, the bar wasn’t that bad. The music was too loud and there were too many people around for him to be comfortable, but he was having a good time with Akaya. He’d even started to enjoy ‘dancing’ with him. He sipped at his drink slowly, not sure exactly what he’d been given, but it tasted good. He was about to inquire over what it was when two girls approached them asking something he couldn’t hear over all the noise.

Out of habit, Akaya’s devious smirk immediately appeared on his face when the girls approached. They had good taste. Hiyoshi was looking rather confused so he stepped up. He was the experienced one after all. He kept the smirk on his face as he told them they were taken. The girls only turned on the charm more, trying to woo them away from their 'obviously loser girlfriends' who had left them all alone. "Girlfriends?" he said smoothly, his voice easily carrying over the music without him having to yell, "I never said we have girlfriends," his eyes flashed mischievously as the girls looked hopeful. Just like in tennis, he crushed their hopes mercilessly by pulling Hiyoshi into a deep kiss without any kind of warning. The girls turned bright red and quickly excused themselves, but Akaya didn't pull away. He was quite comfortable where he was.

Hiyoshi was grateful Akaya was dealing with them since he didn’t care to. He had turned slightly away from them to let Akaya handle it when he clearly heard Akaya say the word ‘girlfriend’ over the music. Turning back towards them to see what they were talking about, he was surprised to find himself suddenly in the middle of a heated kiss with his boyfriend. He automatically closed his eyes and sighed a little into the kiss when suddenly someone bumped into his back and broke him out of his demon brat induced haze. Standing up startled, he narrowed his eyes at Akaya in a glare and tried to hold in his anger, “I need some air. I’ll be right back.”

Akaya blinked as Hiyoshi glared at him. What had he done wrong? He quickly downed his drink and dropped some money on the counter before following his boyfriend through the crowd. He stepped out into the cool air and shivered, it was a stark contrast to the hot club. He looked around and spotted the other man not far away. "Oi, what's wrong?" he asked almost cautiously.

The cold air felt wonderful after being inside the stuffy bar, and there were very few people outside. Nevertheless, he was only able to enjoy his moment of solitude for a mere second before Akaya came out after him. Hiyoshi really would have preferred having a few minutes, at least, but he doubted Akaya would understand that. “I told you I’d be right back. The crowd was getting to me.” ‘That and I still don’t appreciate it when you blatantly kiss me in front of an audience.’ He added to himself silently.

"You're mad at me," Akaya stated simply and leaned against the wall near his boyfriend. "At least tell me what I did wrong," he mumbled as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He was starting to find that he didn't like the other man being mad at him. It bothered him far more than he wanted to admit.

Hiyoshi sighed and looked over at his boyfriend. Fine, he would tell him again. “I think I’ve told you numerous times that I don’t appreciate you doing that. I don’t like being out on display or being stared at.” The ‘that’ should be pretty obvious. “I’m not mad. Obviously, you don’t care enough to stop, so I came outside to deal with it on my own.” He realized he really wasn’t angry over it, more upset that Akaya continued to do something that he’d continuously said made him uncomfortable.

Akaya winced and looked down at the ground, suddenly finding the gum on the pavement very intriguing. "Sorry," he said quietly, "That was the easiest way to make them go away though... When they don't leave after saying you’re taken you have to take more drastic measures..." He kicked at a little pebble and hunched a little more, "Besides... You didn't seem to mind when we were dancing..."

“I’m sure you’re smart enough to come up with a way to get rid of unwanted company without kissing the person you’re with.” Hell, his brat had a talent to get out of almost anything. About the dancing though, “It’s different.” He was missing the point. “When we were dancing… it was just us. You weren’t kissing me to show off or purposely so other people would watch, unless I’m wrong.” He looked into his boyfriend’s eyes, sincerely hoping that wasn’t the case.

"I never kiss you to show off," Akaya said growling and looking up at Hiyoshi, finally meeting his eyes with green determined ones, "I always kiss you just because I want to. I'm not scared of what other people think like you are." He straightened his back again, returning to his full height so he stood a few centimeters taller than the other man. "I'm not ashamed of the way I am, Wakashi."

“I know.” Hiyoshi said fondly, not at all put off by Akaya’s change in demeanor. “He brought a hand up to run through Akaya’s bangs. “It’s one of the things I like about you, and why I’m trying to… get better at it.” He let his hand drop and added seriously. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen over night or that I’m not going to get irritated when you do it.”

Akaya let out a quiet sigh and brought his arms around the other boy, pulling him into a hug, "Fine," he mumbled and nuzzled the other boy’s neck, "I promise that I'll try to not do it as much..." He said softly and punctuated the sentence with a kiss to his neck, "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop holding you like this, they can stare all they want..." he moved to nip at Hiyoshi’s ear once then rested his forehead against his boyfriend’s strong shoulder. He needed physical contact, public and private, and being denied that made him uneasy, but he knew it made his lover uncomfortable. "Can you live with that?" He didn't know what he'd do if Hiyoshi said no, but he waited with bated breath, hoping he didn't have to find out.

Hiyoshi didn’t agree right away, instead taking a moment to think over the request and consider the position they were in. He didn’t want to tell Akaya he would be alright with something when later he would regret it. In the end, he knew that in some situations he might still feel uncomfortable, but if Akaya was willing to make some sacrifices for him, he needed to be willing to meet him half-way. Lifting Akaya’s face up by his chin, he leaned forward and kissed his forehead, then slid his lips down to kiss his nose. “Yes. Thank you.”

The hesitation was killing him, but the kiss to the forehead soothed him immediately and the kiss to the nose made him close his eyes and let out the breath he'd been holding, "Good," he mumbled and smiled before opening his eyes to meet Hiyoshi’s. "Hey... Let's go home." Right now he just wanted to kiss his boyfriend silly, but he wasn't about to break their little deal. He'd wait until it was just them, then he wouldn't hold back.

Those were exactly the words Hiyoshi wanted to hear. Nodding at his boyfriend in silent agreement, he took his hand and led them both back into the bar. He was on his way to pay the tab and go, when the fast upbeat music faded into a slow melodious tune. Turning to his boyfriend, he asked with a soft smirk, “Want one more dance?”

"Yeah," Akaya decided not to tell his boyfriend he'd already paid, at least not yet. For now, he was content with just moving against the other boy. He led them out to a good place on the dance floor and started swaying with the music. He didn't lead the other man this time though, he wanted to see if he could handle it on his own.

Hiyoshi’s smirk grew when he noticed that Akaya was giving him the lead. He may not be the master of techno and gyrating, but slow dancing he could handle. He brought Akaya against his chest, but instead of just swaying back and forth like many of the other couples; he slowly guided Akaya into an easy half-waltz. Chuckling slightly at Akaya’s confused look. He spun him around and then back again. You weren’t a Hyoutei alumni if you didn’t at least know a basic waltz.

Well he hadn't expected that at all. Akaya’s eyes went wide as he was spun out then back. How did Hiyoshi just make him do that? What surprised him even more was that the crowd on the dance floor backed away and gave them a small circle to dance in. He felt his cheeks heating up and he swallowed hard as he tried to follow the other man’s lead. He'd never tried this kind of dance before and he was at a loss for what to do.

Hiyoshi hadn’t expected the crowd to move for them after one little twirl and felt his cheeks going red, but since he had been the one to start it, he wasn’t about to back down. Making his movements easy for Akaya to follow, he brought him closer and whispered in his ear, “Just follow me, like in doubles.” He didn’t do anything too fancy. Spun Akaya out and around him a few times, having himself do most of the fancy foot work. Akaya turned out to be very good at following him and so even went as far as to do a bridge and spun himself out of it and back into Akaya’s arms. Then the song was over and he was smiling. He had enjoyed that.

Like doubles? He could do doubles. Once Akaya got the basic idea of the movements, he found it easy to follow his boyfriend and was even a little disappointed when the song ended. Though, as soon as the crowd started clapping, he blushed deeper. His boyfriend’s gorgeous smile didn't help, and he tugged Hiyoshi off the dance floor and toward the door.

“Hey!” Hiyoshi half laughed at Akaya suddenly pulling him towards the exit. “I still need to pay the tab.” What was the sudden big hurry for? He couldn’t see Akaya’s face since it was faced down with his bangs mostly covering his eyes. Did he step on his foot or something?

"I already paid it," Akaya said quickly and didn't stop until they were outside. He tried to hide the deep blush that had already crept its way down his neck. The last time he'd been this red he’d been in demon mode. "You uh… you're good at that..." he mumbled quietly and scratched the back of his neck, his fingers wrapping unconsciously in the black curls.

His boyfriend sounded odd, not in a bad way, just not the way his chibi demon usually sounded. Curious, Hiyoshi led them a little ways away from the bar and away from the crowds before turning back towards him. Akaya still wasn’t looking at him. Snickering, he moved Akaya’s hand away from his face and made him look up at him so he could see his eyes. “Akaya? Are you actually blushing?”

The question just made him blush harder and Akaya looked away quickly. "D-don't be stupid," he mumbled. He didn't get embarrassed, ever. He couldn't be blushing. He must have a fever! Yeah! That was it. Okay, so maybe he was blushing, a little. He tried to look up at Hiyoshi and felt the blush deepen yet again, even though he didn't think it was possible.

It had to be, by far, one of the most adorable, and comedic, things Hiyoshi had ever seen in his life. Akaya was bright red, though not his eyes thankfully, and was stuttering like a little kid… or should he say brat? His face turned up and he let out a loud crystal clear laugh into the night. Ruffling the brat’s hair, he pulled him against him, trying to stifle his laughter in the brat’s hair. “What are you blushing over? We only danced, and not nearly as provocatively as before.”

"O-Oi!" Akaya said indignantly and pouted at the other man, "Don't laugh at me!" He was going to throw more of a fuss but then he found himself in a hug and he fell quiet. Hiyoshi could piss him off and calm him down faster than anyone else he knew. "I've never danced like that before..." he said quietly.

“Well, you did a good job then.” Hiyoshi answered proudly and pulled away. “Now you know how I feel dancing your way,” his smile never leaving his face as he said so. It had felt good to laugh like that; it had been a good night.

"I--That's differ---" His complaint died and he rubbed the back of his neck again, but it didn't take long for Hiyoshi’s smile to infect him as well and soon Akaya was grinning from ear to ear, despite the light blush that still remained.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes amusedly, knowing exactly what Akaya had been about to say. “C’mon” He held out his hand for Akaya to take. “Let’s go home.”

Akaya nodded and laced his fingers with his boyfriend’s. He didn't need to say anything else; he would probably ruin the mood if he did. Instead, he settled for just walking hand in hand back to his dorm room. He hadn't noticed just how much he'd come to rely on the other man, and as they walked, he knew... Break was going to be hell without Hiyoshi.


	15. Chapter 15

Interlude: Hiyoshi

It’s been a week, a week alone in the house with my parents. I don’t remember it ever feeling this suffocating before. Then again, I’ve never been gone from home this long. The longer I’m here, the more I realize that nothing ever changes. My father is still set in his traditional ways, teaching the same classes, finding everything he can to correct about me. My mother is still preening for guests, going off to fancy dinners with her friends, pretending she’s happy. For the first time I understand what Aniki always complained about.

When it’s not being used, the dojo is still my place of solace. I’m training hard every day, sometimes all night since I’m not sleeping very well anyway. I miss Akaya. Thinking of him though just makes it harder to sleep and makes me want to go back to the dojo. Being in the house reminds me of things, things I would rather not think about, but I can’t escape from. This is my home. This is where I’m going to end up, in the same situation as my mother and father. I asked for this, still want this.

No, that’s not quite right. I want the dojo. I knew a long time that I wanted to teach Kobujutsu martial arts and live a simple traditional life. What has changed? The answer is pathetically obvious. I used to be content with the idea that someday my parents would find me a wife and things would just go the natural traditional course. It was easier that way and less for me to worry about. I hadn’t counted anyone, let alone the brat, to show up in my life.

It isn’t going to last. I have to acknowledge that. Someday, whether it’s in a month or a year, either Akaya is going to tire of me and find someone else, or my parents will try to engage me again and I will have to let him go. I know that Akaya would never be happy if he stayed with me anyway. I’m too boring and Akaya needs someone that can keep him interested. It would be better if I made it easier on both of us and subtly try to pull back so things don’t go any farther.

The other day I saw my mother going through pictures of bridal candidates. She kept asking me what kind of girls I was interested in. I know my mother cares for me and would never actually force anything on me… but my father is another story. I have no intention of ending things with Akaya, just the thought… I don’t want to think about it, but I need to take a step back less it hurt even more in the end. If I just wait, and enjoy the time we have together… eventually he will leave me. At least that way Akaya won’t be hurt and I can deal with it and go about with my life as I originally planned. That is the best option.

CHAPTER 15

Akaya double checked the address Sanada had given him again and looked up at the dojo in awe. He'd only ever been to the Sanada’s dojo before and it had been years since then. It had been a whole week and a half since he'd last seen his boyfriend and he was tired of waiting, especially when he'd heard what Hiyoshi’s father was like from Sanada. He pulled his backpack a little further up on his shoulder and walked up to the door, steeling himself for his boyfriend’s rage. He knew the other boy wouldn't be happy to see him here, but he knew deep down they both needed this. Needed each other. Ok, that had sounded really lame. Well, whatever. He knocked on the door and waited. He wasn't sure how dojo’s worked, since his family was anything but traditional, but he hoped someone heard him.

Hiyoshi had just finished some training of his own and was now viewing and helping out with one of his father’s lessons when there was a knock on the side entrance of the dojo. Confused, he caught his father’s side glance telling him to get rid of whoever it was. He made his way quickly to the sliding door and opened it, eyes going wide. The sight of Akaya standing there was like a soothing balm, and he wanted so badly to grab the other boy and pull him close... but couldn’t. Instead, he quickly looked back to make sure his father was occupied before slipping out. “You’re not supposed to be here.” He bit out while sliding the door closed, facing away from Akaya. He wasn’t sure if his voice came out like that because he was angry or because he was trying to hold himself back from crushing him in his arms.

"I know," Akaya said quietly with a little forced smile, "But I wanted to see you." 'Stay calm, Akaya, you knew he'd be mad, you can do this,' he cheered himself on mentally while physically he felt the lump in his chest grow and he shook subtly with nervousness. He set his bag down and looked around, making sure no one could see them before wrapping his arms around Hiyoshi’s waist and pulling him back against his chest so he could rest his head on the other boys shoulder. "Please don't be mad at me, Wakashi... I just needed to see you..." He'd never been good at hiding his emotions and his voice reflected just how vulnerable he felt and how lonely he'd been. Even though he'd been around his teammates and family all break, it wasn't the same.

Damn it… Hiyoshi had been trying to convince himself for the past few days that he could handle this. It was time to prove it. Steeling himself, he slowly turned and gently pushed Akaya back and off of him, his face emotionless and not able to look directly at him. “You’ve seen me. If you want to wait until after the class is over I can meet you for lunch. Now, I have to go.” It hurt a lot to say, but his father was on the other side of the wall, if he saw them together… He turned around again to enter back in to the dojo.

"Wakashi..." The shock and hurt was evident on Akaya’s face as he was pushed away, "I--" He fell silent as the other boy turned to go back inside and dropped his head to stare at the floor, "Okay... I'll wait..." He sat down on the edge of the little wooden deck. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them tightly, trying not to think about the painful ache in his chest. There had to be a reason for his boyfriend’s actions. Maybe he knew about ninja security cameras or something that Akaya didn't. Either way, if Hiyoshi said wait, he would wait.

Twenty minutes later, Hiyoshi was sitting on the dojo floor staring at nothing. His father had given him a questioning look when he walked back in, but he’d shaken his head and his father had accepted that. Now all he could think about was his boyfriend on the other side of the wall waiting for him. It was a good thing he wasn’t participating in the lesson, or else his father would have definitely noticed something was wrong. Twenty-five minutes… only twenty more to go. He couldn’t wait any longer.

During a short break, Hiyoshi excused himself from the lesson, earning a disappointed look from his father, but he didn’t care. He went out the front entrance and quickly walked around to the side where Akaya was still sitting there waiting for him. Looking around first to make sure no one was watching, he forced himself to approach him normally. “Let’s go. You can wait in the house while I change for lunch.”

While Akaya waited, all he could think about was how this had been a dumb idea. He had thought his boyfriend would be happy to see him, but obviously he'd been wrong. He hated thinking that Hiyoshi didn't care about him as much as he cared about him, but he knew it was probably true. He didn't like like many people, but in both cases when he’d liked someone like that, he ended up falling for them hard. He was a needy person, both physically and mentally. Maybe he was overwhelming his boyfriend? Akaya looked up as he heard footsteps and stood. He couldn't find his words so he just nodded dumbly and picked up his backpack. He waited for Hiyoshi to lead the way because he had no idea where the house was.

Akaya was being too quite. Hiyoshi glanced over his shoulder and saw Akaya following him sullenly as if he were thinking of something that upset him. He didn’t know how to go about asking him what was wrong, so he just dropped it, hoping Akaya would tell him on his own if he wanted to, they were almost to the house anyway. No one else was home, so he let them both in through the back door and had Akaya take off his shoes before escorting him to the back of the house where his room was. On the way down the hall, he asked, trying to sound as natural as possible, “How has your vacation been?”

Akaya could tell the tone was a bit forced, but at least it wasn't as bad as it had been earlier. He smiled just slightly, "It's been ok. I hung out at Marui-senpai’s house for a while, but..." He reached out to take Hiyoshi’s hand in his lightly, "it was lonely...” He was trying to be as honest as possible about his feelings, trying to get his Hiyoshi back. His Wakashi, the one that had just been smiling and laughing with him a week and a half ago.

Hiyoshi squeezed Akaya’s hand back slightly and nodded his head; he’d been lonely, too. He then let go in order to get the items needed for his shower. Before walking out, he couldn’t help stopping to run a hand through his boyfriend’s hair once, having been craving the feel of it under his palm all week. “Sorry, I’ll be right back. Then we can get out of here.” The shower room was right across the hall, so it would only take a minute to rinse off.

Akaya closed his eyes, savoring the feel of those fingers in his hair before flopping down on Hiyoshi’s bed and burying his face in the pillow. It smelled like his boyfriend and it soothed him. Almost immediately after the other man left, he fell asleep. He'd gotten very little sleep that week since he'd gone home. Nightmares and insomnia had kept him awake, but as soon as he smelled Hiyoshi all around, his body relaxed and it made his eyelids heavy. He curled around the other boy’s pillow and smiled a little in his sleep.

Hiyoshi forgot to bring a change of clothes with him since he usually didn’t have to. ‘Oh well,’ he thought, ‘it’s not like Akaya hasn’t seen me undressed before.’ On the way back to his room, he was trying to figure out what to say to Akaya. Odd, it had never been difficult or uncomfortable trying to talk to him before. He walked back in with only a towel wrapped around his waist and was about to ask where he wanted to go when he stopped in his tracks.

His chibi demon was curled up on his futon asleep. He was snuggling his pillow with a little smile on his face, lightly snoring. His heart jumped in his chest. He couldn’t help leaning down, brining his face close to Akaya’s and slowly running his hands through the web of tangled curly hair. Sighing softly, he leaned forward to kiss the brat’s nose lightly, feeling an overwhelming need to get on the futon and just hold him. He knew better though. His door was closed and no one in the house would enter without knocking first, but it was still too risky.

At the light touch to his nose, Akaya opened his eyes slowly and reached over the bed, looking for his boyfriend. When he didn't find him, he groaned and sat up, "Hn... where..." He turned his head and smiled when he found him. "You look sexy," he mumbled and reached out to touch his boyfriend’s exposed abs lightly, "You've lost weight though..." That brought a frown to his face. Had Hiyoshi not been taking care of himself again? "Have you been eating?" he asked quietly, finally starting to sound more awake.

Hiyoshi sucked in a breath at that touch and quickly pulled away to go about finding clothes to put on. “I’ve been training a lot,” he answered simply. Maybe he hadn’t been eating as much as he should have, but he had been eating. He was required to have dinner every night with his parents. “Of course I’ve been eating.” He quickly pulled on a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt. He hadn’t packed very much, knowing his parents wouldn’t like his new wardrobe and there were plenty of clothes still here.

Akaya watched him dress and frowned. "Whatever you say..." he mumbled and lay back down on his side. “So where do you wanna go to lunch?" He asked with an almost tired tone to his voice.

“I don’t know. How hungry are you?” Hiyoshi wasn’t actually hungry, but it was something to do and would get them both out of the house. Looking up at the wall clock, he figured he had about an hour before his father came in and started asking questions. He really just wanted to keep running his hands through Akaya’s hair and hold him. How many times had he thought that in the last fifteen minutes? He needed to stop this train of thought before he went insane.

"I--" Akaya forced a little smile, "How about we just go get ramen? I'm sure there's a good place around here right?" He needed to act normal, like his chest didn't ache. The stony look on his boyfriend’s face was too much. "You'll have to lead the way though," he forced a laugh, "Oh right, can I leave my backpack here? It's heavy..."

Hiyoshi knew there was something wrong with Akaya, but couldn’t figure out what it was, and the brat wasn’t telling him which was frustrating. “There’s a small ramen place close by we can go to.” He didn’t eat out around here often, always just ate at home, and he rarely had guests over. “I can carry it.” Picking up Akaya’s bag, he noted it really was heavy. “What did you pack in here? Where were you planning on staying tonight?”

"I...” Akaya hid behind a wide smile, "Oh, I'm gonna get a hotel, don't worry," he lied quickly. Of course he'd planned on staying with Hiyoshi, but apparently it wasn't going to happen. "Sorry, didn't mean to pack it so heavy."

This was ridiculous. Usually his brat was such an annoyingly good liar, but right now he was failing badly. He put the bag down and marched over to him, dragging him up off the futon by the arm so that they were standing eye to eye. “What’s wrong?” If anything, Hiyoshi should be the one who was upset; after all, he was the one who specifically told Akaya not to come. Now, Akaya had shown up without any notice and Hiyoshi could get into a lot of trouble if his parents found out he’d let someone into the house without their permission.

Akaya didn't even flinch as he was dragged to his feet, he just kept smiling, just like he had years ago when he'd been told that Sanada was only interested in Yukimura. He didn't know what else to do. "It's nothing," he lied again and picked up his bag, "You ready to go?" 'Or should I go alone?' he added in his head.

It was Hiyoshi’s turn to sit on the futon, head in his palms. He felt the beginnings of a massive headache coming on. “Haven’t I told you before that I hate it when you lie to me?” He rebuked softly. What had he done wrong? Akaya had come, saying he missed him, making him happy enough to not get angry at him for showing up without any notice. He hadn’t kicked him out or been mean to him. Hell, he couldn’t think of anything that was different except for the pain in his chest at having to hold back from touching him.

"I'm... I'm going to go. You don't want me around," Akaya kept smiling, "So uh... I guess I'll see you back at school." He set his hand on the door handle and paused. He didn’t like this. He didn't like it at all. No! He wasn't going to leave it like this, "Wakashi... How come you're acting so weird? I mean... You don't smile or anything. You look like a statue... or like, ya know, before..." He stared at the door handle, debating whether he should open it or not. He could run and not deal with this until school started, but that would be a cowardly thing to do, and he wasn't a coward.

Hiyoshi’s eyes widened and he thought his heart would stop when Akaya said he was leaving. How could the brat think for a moment that he didn’t want him? What had he done wrong? Maybe this was when Akaya was going to leave him. He knew it was going to happen, but he didn’t think it would be so soon… He almost didn’t catch the rest of what he said, but when he did, his eyes narrowed and he finally let his frustration out. “What the hell are you talking about, brat? You’re the one who’s acting weird! What ‘before’ are you talking about?” He stood while speaking and covered Akaya’s hand on the doorknob. The brat wasn’t going anywhere until he had some answers.

There was the Hiyoshi he knew and lov-- liked... a lot. "I'm talking about before we started going out." Akaya’ other hand covered Hiyoshi’s that held his to the doorknob, "You're all emotionless again. I can't read you. I'm not acting weird... I just don't know what to do." He finally let the nervous smile melt from his face and he stood there just watching his boyfriend’s face, looking rather vulnerable.

“I…” Hiyoshi didn’t know what to say to that, but it didn’t sound like Akaya was leaving him. That calmed him. “C’mon, we can’t stay here right now.” He brought their hands up off the doorknob and quickly kissed Akaya’s palm. Looking into his eyes with what he hoped was a sincere expression and not emotionless as Akaya was claiming him to be. “We’ll talk about this later.” He let go of Akaya and grabbed his wallet as well as Akaya’s bag from him, motioning for him to follow. He couldn’t take his boyfriend’s hand in case someone saw them, but he turned to make sure Akaya was behind him as they exited through the back door.

Akaya let Hiyoshi carry his bag as he followed him out, his eyes wandering over the house and garden as they walked. It was so... plain. It was traditional, yeah, the kind of place Yanagi and Sanada probably had wet dreams about, but to him it was just boring. He much preferred his western style zoo of a home. "How can you live in a place like this?" he asked quietly.

“A place like this?” Hiyoshi wasn’t sure if he should take offense to that. Yeah, it may be traditional and boring to some, but it was his home. “It’s not that bad. We have a small koi pond on the other side of the yard, and the secondary house is actually fairly modernized.” As they went by the dojo, he saw that classes just getting out. Holding his hand up, signaling for Akaya to be quiet, he handed Akaya his bag and commanded quietly, “Follow me, and if anyone says anything, be polite and don’t speak unless you’re spoken to directly.” His father was busy talking to the students, so he didn’t need to worry about that. As long as they walked naturally, no one should stop them.

Akaya nodded a bit confused, but did as he was told. As they walked past the students he heard a man’s voice and looked over. Was that Hiyoshi’s dad? While he was looking away, he tripped over an uneven part of the pavement and fell flat on his face. With a little groan he sat up and rubbed his head. His ears were ringing a little, but he ignored it. Hopefully no one saw that totally uncool move.

Whirling around when he heard a thud in back of him, Hiyoshi could feel his perfect composure breaking as he saw Akaya’s expression. Without thinking, he held out a hand to help him up. Looking over his shoulder at his father, he noticed he was looking at them with a questioning look. Shit, he’d seen them. Once Akaya was on his feet, he quickly let go of his hand and turned towards his father to see what needed to be done. Thankfully, he was already looking the other direction and talking to someone else. “Let’s go.” Without looking back, he led them away from the house.

The hand offered to him had made Akaya smile but the 'Oh shit' look that came over Hiyoshi a moment later wiped it off his face. He nodded at the command and followed him silently.

Instead of taking Akaya to the ramen shop as they had previously discussed, Hiyoshi led him to the nearby Okura Hotel. Akaya said he was planning to stay at a hotel, so this should be fine. It wasn’t as nice as the Prince Hotel down the street, but it would cost less so his parents wouldn’t take much notice of the cost on the family credit card. His mother came here all the time for meetings with friends and fancy dinners so his name was immediately recognized. He was instantly set up with accommodations without much hassle. “You can stay here tonight.” He said to his boyfriend after he was handed a key. “They have pretty good room service, too, so go ahead and order whatever you want.”

Akaya blinked as they walked into the hotel. "The ramen place is in a hotel?" He looked around and was surprised as the hotel people immediately turned their attention to his boyfriend. Why did they all know his name? "You--uh... thanks..." he stuttered and looked down at the key. He hated being treated to things by Hiyoshi, but in this case he was a bit glad. He didn't have the money for a hotel, especially of this caliber.

Akaya would be staying on the seventh floor, so when they had everything they needed; he escorted him to the elevator. Once inside and the door closed, Hiyoshi did what he had been craving to do since he first saw him. He pulled Akaya into his arms and threaded his fingers through the brat’s hair, leaning into the slightly taller boy’s strong body. It felt so good to just have him there. “I’ll try to be back in an hour or two, go ahead and eat without me.” He knew it was pathetic, and it would only hurt him more in the end, but he realized he needed Akaya right now. Even if Akaya was going to leave him eventually, he was here now. He pulled away as the elevator doors opened to the seventh floor and gently pushed Akaya out. “Please wait for me.” He gave a small wave as the doors closed again, leaving Akaya on the other side.

When Hiyoshi basically jumped into his arms, Akaya felt all the stress from earlier drift away and he let out a long sigh, but the words left him frowning and the doors closing in front of his face just confused the hell out of him. He stood there for a long minute just staring at the shiny elevator doors before everything finally registered. Well, at least he was coming back eventually.

Looking down at his key, Akaya read, "Room 707, huh..." He looked at the signs on the wall and went in the general direction of the room. "705... 706... and..." He looked at the next door with a smile then paused in confusion, "708? The hell?" He looked at the surrounding doors, no 707. He walked back down the hall again, checking all the doors. Still no 707. Grumbling about the stupid designers, he walked around the 4 other halls until he found room 707 on the opposite side of the building. He glared at the door as he slid his key in. When the door opened, he blinked and double checked the number on the door. The room was huge. He walked in, in shock, and looked around. Dropping his bag and shoes by the door, he walked over to look out the window then flopped down on the bed with a big grin. He quickly grabbed the room service menu and called in his order. He couldn't wait for Hiyoshi to get back.

Hiyoshi walked home as fast as possible, closer to jogging. As expected, his father was waiting for him with questions of why he’d left practice early and who the boy was he saw him with. Hiyoshi had a moment to wonder if it was a bad sign that he’d never had a reason to lie to his father until he started seeing Akaya. Figuring it was close enough to the truth, he told him that a friend from school had come to visit who was staying nearby and had invited him to come hang out. Although strict, his father was not an intentionally mean person and didn’t deny him his social connections. It took a bit of coaxing, but after sitting down to an early meal with his parents and his mother insisting on his behalf that hanging out with friends was good for him, he was excused for the evening. Didn’t they even realize he was an adult in college now?

Without bothering with anything else, the moment he was given the okay to go, Hiyoshi was out the door and on his way back to the hotel. It had taken him close to three hours to get back, and hoped Akaya wouldn’t be too upset with him for making him wait. His heart raced at the prospect of Akaya and the privacy of a hotel room so close. Not pausing for anything, he walked right into the hotel and went up to the seventh floor to room 707. He knocked, a mixed feeling of anticipation and dread filling his stomach, not sure if Akaya would still be upset at him or not.

For the last hour, Akaya had been sitting watching sumo on TV and cheering while he munched on his dessert. Hiyoshi’d said to order what he wanted after all. As soon as he heard the knock on the door, he charged for it, tripping over the foot stool, the rug, the coffee table, and his shoes on the way. When he finally got the door open, he pulled his boyfriend in and closed the door quickly, hugging him close. "Welcome back," he said happily.

Hiyoshi was at a loss for words, the barest hint of a smile appearing on his face. Akaya had waited for him. He returned the embrace, letting all the pent up stress leave his body as he leaned against the other boy and nuzzled gently into his neck, breathing in his scent. It was almost sickening how vulnerable he felt right then, but he would rather feel vulnerable than pull away. “I’m sorry for earlier.” He wasn’t a hundred percent sure what he was apologizing for, but if he had done something wrong, he wanted it out of the way as quickly as possible.

"It's ok," Akaya assured quietly and pulled back to look at him, "You're here, so it's ok," He said, smiling wide and innocently. "Just don't do it again okay?"

“Seeing how I still don’t know exactly what I did, I can’t make the promise, but I’ll try not to disappoint you.” Hiyoshi ruffled black curls then pulled back out of his arms completely, a bit self-conscious. Why was he feeling this way? Back at school he never had this problem when they were alone. Maybe he was worried Akaya didn’t want him to be so clingy, as he’d complained his ‘friends’ in the past had been. Yeah, that had to be it. He’d missed his brat terribly, but that was no reason to throw himself at him the minute he finally got him alone. Thankfully, the overwhelming need to hold him was back to a manageable level.

As soon as Hiyoshi was out of his arms Akaya frowned and took his hands, "You're doing this..." he mumbled as he placed his forehead against Hiyoshi’s and looked into his eyes. “You're being all distant and stuff," he said tiredly, "Back at school, you're happy and you smile and hug me and kiss me. But here... You've been cold since I got here... I don't get it..."

Hiyoshi couldn’t help it. When Akaya mentioned him doing all those things so casually, his face turned tomato red. “I… I am happy to see you… And I… don’t mind those things. I just-gus..m-nt..ust to-t…” he trailed off looking to the side. “I don’t want you to think I can’t handle being alone, or be too… clingy...” He could feel the blush going all the way down his neck.

Akaya blinked and looked at him a bit confused until what his boyfriend was saying registered in his head. His grin spread from ear to ear and he laughed quietly. "That's it?" he said sounding infinitely relieved. "You scared me you know..." He crushed their lips together in a heated kiss like he'd been wanting to do since break started. When he finally pulled away, he was breathing a little harder. "Why do you think I showed up here? I didn't want to be alone anymore... I--I'm clingy too..." He flushed lightly and rubbed the back of his neck with a little nervous smile.

The blushing marital artist had almost forgotten how cute his brat was when he looked like that. Those words were exactly what he needed to hear. “I scared you?” A small smirk made its way onto his face and he leaned in closer, finally able to meet Akaya’s eyes again without flinching away or feeling embarrassed. “I thought nothing but your senpai could do that.” He wrapped his arms around the other boy, sufficiently trapping him in his strong embrace. “…and maybe you shouldn’t tell me that, or I won’t be able to let you go.”

Bringing his arms around Hiyoshi as well, Akaya let out a little relieved sigh. "No, there's a lot of things that can freak me out. The senpai-tachi of course, the creepy neighbor down the street from my house, those small yappy dogs, losing you..." He kissed Hiyoshi’s forehead lightly, "And you don't have to let go if you don’t want to..."

The brat was doing a really good job of making his heart feel like it was going to jump out of his chest at any moment and forget all the promises he made to himself. Fuck holding back. It was a losing battle he was all too happy to surrender to. “Then today, I won’t.” Hiyoshi’s eyes changed in that moment, going from stone to hungry in an instant. He claimed Akaya’s lips in a possessive and demanding kiss, moving them back towards the very spacious bed. Once there, he dropped Akaya unceremoniously down onto it, but quickly followed him, covering his body with his own and running his hands down his side and under his shirt.

Akaya’s eyes went wide as his back hit the bed. When had they even moved over there? He'd been too caught up in that kiss. He groaned and arched up as cold hands touched his warm body, "Nn... Wakashi..." He could have rolled them over, fought for the top, but right now it felt too good to be the one on the bottom. Hiyoshi was doing this to him of his own will, with no provocation. The thought alone soothed any worries he had away instantly.

Hiyoshi brought Akaya’s shirt up over his head and discarded it somewhere on the floor, allowing the kiss to break for only a split second before claiming his lips again. His tongue seeking the others out like a starved man, he couldn’t remember feeling this desperate for his boyfriend’s touch before. Their lips separated with a pop that echoed in his ears, and he bit and sucked at Akaya’s bottom lip before working his way down to his neck and collar bone, having every intention of tasting every part of him.

It was overwhelming, but Akaya loved every second of it. He tugged on Hiyoshi’s shirt, making him pause for a moment before dropping it off the side of the bed. Letting the other boy do as he pleased, he groaned and writhed under him. He slid his hands over his boyfriend’s back and toyed with his hair, craning his neck to look down at him.

Teasing a nipple, tracing a small scar on his stomach with his tongue, Hiyoshi explored Akaya’s entire chest and abdominal area with his lips. A hand wandered down past Akaya’s hips to settle and squeeze a sculpted cheek, the reaction he felt against his body making him grin and let out a small chuckle. Wandering back up to Akaya’s lips, he kissed him gently, whispering the words “my brat” against them fondly. His head sunk to ravage at the area below his ear, between his neck and hairline, while his hips began a slow controlled rocking movement against the boy under him.

Akaya tried to steal a deeper kiss from his boyfriend, but before he could even kiss back, Hiyoshi’s lips were off of his and ravishing his neck again. He let out another deep moan, finding no reason to keep himself quiet, and rolled his hips up to meet his boyfriend’s.

Hiyoshi moaned deep in the back of his throat, the friction driving him crazy. His hand came to the front of Akaya’s pants, impatiently feeling him through the fabric before unfastening the button and pulling the zipper down. He took a moment to look into Akaya’s eyes questioningly, making sure this was alright.

Noticing the questioning look, Akaya smiled weakly and groaned, "Please, Wakashi." He was not above begging when it came to this with Hiyoshi. He pulled the other man into a deep kiss and rolled his hips up to meet his boyfriend’s hand, encouraging him to keep going.

Not letting go of the kiss, loving the way Akaya’s lips moved against his, Hiyoshi’s hand pulled Akaya’s pants and boxers down just low enough to have access to his very hard and weeping erection. He just brushed over the heated skin barely as he slowly massaged the area around it. Akaya was a tempting demon who’d shown up at his house without any notice, it was time to deliver the most effective kind of payback. Or maybe he just enjoyed teasing his brat too much.

Akaya took over the kiss, making it a mash of teeth, tongues, and muffled groans. He was grateful when he was freed from his pants, but it didn't take long for him to realize Hiyoshi was teasing him mercilessly. He writhed, trying to make his boyfriend touch more of him, but when it didn't work, he broke the kiss. "Nn... Wakashi," he groaned and fixed his glazed eyes on his boyfriend in a heated stare, "Don't tease me."

There was no way Hiyoshi could refuse his brat anything when said it like that. He took the pulsing shaft in his hand and slowly started to stroke him from base to tip, feeling himself become rock-hard in the process. He had never thought about hand jobs as much of a turn on, but when satisfying Akaya… There was something so irresistible in his boyfriend’s moans of pleasure that often Hiyoshi found himself swept away by it.

Finally! Akaya moved his hips with Hiyoshi’s hand and whimpered as the ache from neglect finally subsided. Once it was gone he was just blinded by the pleasure that was racing from head to toe. He wanted so much more than Hiyoshi’s hand on him, but he knew he couldn't push his boyfriend to sleep with him. It would drive him away, and if the break had done anything, it had proved that Akaya had come to rely on Hiyoshi far more than he ever expected.

Hiyoshi marveled out how beautiful Akaya looked when like this. He had to grit his teeth at the painful reminder of his own situation as his erection pushed against the confines of his pants. He quickly used his free hand to undo them to relieve some of the pressure as his other hand pumped Akaya harder and faster, but it still wasn’t enough. He wanted to feel Akaya touching him as well. Breath harsh, he leaned up and kissed Akaya hotly. If it had been any other moment, he would never have been able to utter the words, “Akaya… touch me…”

The words nearly pushed the needy demon over the edge and he let out a rather pathetic sounding whimper before his hand sought out his boyfriend’s erection and started teasing him and stroking him with long sure movements of his hand. He could do this in his sleep, the motion was so familiar to him, years of experience having engrained it into his very core, but there was no way he could even think of sleep with the way Hiyoshi was touching him. The man’s fingers sent shocks through his body that each coaxed another groan from him.

When Hiyoshi felt Akaya’s hand on him, he bit down on his bottom lip hard to keep from crying out at the pleasure it brought him. He buried his head in his boyfriend’s neck and tried to match Akaya’s pace, wanting this to last, but also knowing that neither of them would for much longer.

Akaya gripped at Hiyoshi’s back with his free hand, his nails leaving little red trails down the pale skin. "F-fuck..." he groaned and arched up one last time before his whole body tensed, making his toes curl, as he came into the other man’s hand. “Nn… Wakashi..." he moaned out and shook with pleasure. His hand paused momentarily in its stroking, but quickly picked back up as he tried to bring Hiyoshi to completion too.

Hiyoshi could taste copper as his teeth bit through the skin of his bottom lip. Feeling Akaya’s release under him and just hearing him would have been enough to drive him over. His hips having a mind of their own, he jerked into Akaya’s palm repeatedly. Then, everything was still, suspended, and white hot satisfaction coursed through him. In the next moment, it all came crashing down in waves. “Akaya…” he slumped down on top of his boyfriend, breathing raggedly.

Akaya brought his arms around Hiyoshi tightly as he tried to catch his breath. 'Wow', was the best his brain could come up with as his body shivered despite the heat still running through him. He'd never known how intense sex could be until Hiyoshi, and hell, they hadn't even had actual intercourse yet. He couldn't even begin to imagine how it was going to feel when they did.

“Mmm…” Hiyoshi hummed against Akaya’s neck and nuzzled it softly, still on the high his brat had put him on. With slightly glazed and satisfied eyes, he kissed him tenderly on the lips, but frowned when he pulled back and saw red come off on them. “Sorry,” he grumbled and brought his hand up to run over Akaya’s bottom lip to get the blood off.

Akaya caught Hiyoshi’s hand before it reached his lips and pulled the other man down into another kiss, this time licking at his injured lip gently. When he finally let his boyfriend up for air, he smiled, "'s ok, long as you're alright." he mumbled.

Hiyoshi moaned at the mixed feeling of pain and pleasure against his lip and smiled. It felt good to smile. “Of course I’m alright, brat.” He sat up on his forearm and looked down at him with smiling eyes as he ran his clean hand through Akaya’s hair, combing the disheveled locks off his face. “We need a shower.” He chucked at the mess all over them.

"Yeah," the curly haired boy agreed, but didn't make any attempt to move just yet. "Nee Wakashi..." he said quietly and examined his boyfriends face, trying to judge how the other was going to react,”Come to my house with me? There's not much of the break left, but I want you to come over."

The smile froze on Hiyoshi’s face before turning slightly forced. “I can’t. My father wants me to stay and help around the dojo. I’ve also been training a lot and it would be hard to get any training done if I went with you.” It’s not that he didn’t want to go, just the thought of parting from the chibi demon again made the ache in his chest start up again, but he couldn’t… could he? “Wouldn’t it be rude of me to just show up at your place?”

"No way," Akaya shook his head, "My mom was actually wondering why I didn't bring you with me in the first place." He smiled a bit. "I think she was mad that she didn't get to meet you after having to listen to so much about you," he blushed just slightly. "You sure you can't come? I can talk to your dad and tell him we have homework we were going to work on together with a study group at my place."

Hiyoshi smirked. It seemed like such a high school thing to do, not that he had ever done anything like that in high school, but still… And the idea that Akaya had told his mom about them was a little strange. Obviously, it was Akaya’s choice whether to tell his family or not, but the thought still made him slightly nervous. “I’ll talk to my father.” It was the best he could do. “Maybe I can get him to agree to something.”

"Just tell him it's important to your studies," he said and grinned. "Trust me, it'll work. We used to tell Fukubuchou’s parents that all the time, and if that serious looking guy was your dad then I'm sure it'll work. He had the same scary serious look Sanada-san does." He shivered at the thought of Sanada’s father. He'd met him a few times, but every time he'd scared Akaya horribly. He only hoped Hiyoshi’s father wasn't as cruel as Sanada’s.

“Okay, brat. I’d told you I’d try.” Maybe if he talked to his mother first and got her to take it up with his father, there would be a chance. His mother was a very hard person to say no to and the only one his father ever grudgingly listened to.

Hiyoshi rolled off of Akaya and sat up, taking in the damage. It was rather comedic. Both of them only had their pants half off, who knew where their shirts had landed, and they had somehow ended up side-ways on the queen sized bed with their feet still dangling off the edge; not to mention, they were a mess. A hot shower and maybe a long bath sounded good. “Let’s go take that shower now.”

Akaya smiled and pulled his pants and boxers off and dropped them to the floor before hopping up off the bed. "Ready!" he said happily, not even a little fazed that he was naked and covered in the evidence of their earlier activities. He grabbed Hiyoshi’s hand and pulled him toward the bathroom with a big ear to ear grin.

Hiyoshi chuckled as he was dragged to the bathroom. Once there, he proceeded to finish removing his clothes in a much slower and organized fashion. The bathroom was very spacious, having both a large Japanese style open shower area as well as a huge bathtub. He set the shower temperature and turned the water on, waiting for it to warm up. Akaya was gawking, which was amusing, he looked like he’d never seen a Japanese style bathroom before. With a smirk, he turned the still cold shower water on Akaya, spraying him with the shower head.

Akaya looked around the massive bathroom in awe. It had been so long since he'd seen a real Japanese style bathroom. At school and home he had very western style surroundings and he usually forgot how cool Japanese stuff could be. He was about to comment when cold water hit him dead on. He yelped and jumped back, away from the spray, "Hey!" He yelled while laughing.

“Just trying to help clean you off,” Hiyoshi said calmly but still with a smirking grin on his face, lifting the shower head to spray him again.

The tennis ace jumped out of the way and ran over to grab onto his boyfriend in a big wet cold hug, "Lemme return the favor." With a devious grin, he turned the shower head on Hiyoshi. He got water on himself as well, but he was already wet and didn't really care anymore.

Hiyoshi grunted and winced when the cold body and water hit him. Instead of going for the shower head again, he grabbed Akaya’s arms and pinned them in back of him, knocking him off balance and forcing him to down to the floor. Akaya was now on his ass with his feet out and arms pinned behind him, Hiyoshi kneeling between his legs. The shower head had been released and fell the floor, spraying up over both of them. At least the water was warmer now. “I’m sorry. You said something about returning favors?”

Akaya grunted as he hit the floor with a loud thud. He glared at Hiyoshi for a moment then leaned forward and started kissing and nipping at his boyfriend’s neck and collar bone teasingly. He didn't need hands to get his revenge.

The brat was playing dirty. Hiyoshi’s body was still sensitive from their earlier activities. One hand let go of his arms while the other still held them firmly in place. His now freed hand tangled in the frizzy wet locks and pulled Akaya’s head back and away from his neck to crush his lips against his. He had really missed these lips. Getting caught up in the kiss, his hold on the other’s arms slackened.

As soon as the grip on his arms loosened, Akaya smirked into the kiss and pulled his arms away, quickly bringing them around to grab Hiyoshi’s thighs and pull him into his lap so he was straddling him, not caring at all that there was no fabric between them anymore. It was just skin on skin and it felt great. As soon as he had his boyfriend where he wanted him, he brought his arms up to circle Hiyoshi’s waist to keep him there.

‘I should have known this would happen’ the mushroom-haired boy thought to himself amusedly but didn’t have the will to break away from the embrace. Now securely in the demon brat’s grasp, he pulled back slightly and asked with a raised eyebrow, “Now that you have me where you want me, what are you going to do?”

"I can think of a few things," Akaya said with an evil little grin and unconsciously rolled his hips up against Hiyoshi’s. The motion drew a groan from him and he shivered despite the warm water running over them.

‘So can I,’ Hiyoshi realized with a blush, and couldn’t help letting a small moan escape that came out as more of a whimper. He leaned back, lying on the tile, bringing Akaya on top of him. With the water still falling over them, it reminded him of another time they had been in this position. Outside by the lake, Akaya kissing him while protecting him from the cold rain. That had been before they’d been together as anything but friends. Looking back on it though, Hiyoshi had to admit, his resistance had been futile.

Akaya braced himself on his forearms above the other man and looked down at him lovingly without even realizing it. He really did care for Hiyoshi. Back then, it had just been a challenge, something to pass the time. But now... Now thinking about sleeping with anyone else and hurting Hiyoshi, made his chest ache. His body blocked most of the water from hitting his boyfriend but it soaked his hair and made it fall down around his face in a black mass of wet black waves. Once his hair was straightened out it was deceptively long, even longer than Hiyoshi’s, "Wakashi..." he mumbled quietly, just saying the first thing that came to his mind, "I want to sleep with you... but not just because it would feel good... but because it's you... and I don't really get it, but no one else... I can't look at anyone else like that anymore. It's kinda scary, but..." he trailed off not really sure if he was even making sense anymore. His cheeks flushed a light pink and he looked at everything but his boyfriend’s eyes.

Hiyoshi didn’t know what to say. He fondly brushed a long lock of hair back behind the brat’s ear, which instantly fell down again. He leaned forward to brush his lips against Akaya’s forehead, then nose, then softly against his lips. It was complicated for him. He wanted to do what Akaya requested of him, wanted it for himself as well, but was worried about the consequences. He was still convinced that Akaya and he would eventually separate. If this last week had taught him anything, it was that he was already too emotionally attached to the brat. How much more so would he be? How much more would it hurt in the end if he gave all of himself to him? But it was so hard to say no to his boyfriend, and he knew that if he did, he could potentially drive him away even sooner. “I have to think about it.” He settled on guiltily, not able to meet his eyes.

"I know," Akaya said quietly and leaned down to kiss Hiyoshi lightly. "It's ok... I'll wait as long as I have to," he smiled and turned Hiyoshi’s face to meet his. "I only want to be with you, so don't worry about taking as long as you need, I won't leave you, and I don't wanna make you do something you don't wanna do," he said and sealed it with another light kiss.

It was creepy how sometimes Akaya seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and exactly what to say to make him feel better. “Thank you,” he whispered against his lips sincerely. However, if Akaya kept doing this to him, he doubted he could hold back what he knew they both wanted for much longer. His arms came around his boyfriend’s waist and brought them both up until they were standing again. He put the shower head back up and retrieved the hotel’s fancy shampoo. Squirting some into his hand, he massaged Akaya’s scalp with it, his hair getting even fuller and thicker.

As Hiyoshi shampooed his hair, Akaya smiled and squeezed his eyes shut. It was weird to have someone else washing his hair, but he didn't dislike it. Once it got all soapy he grinned and ran his hands over it a couple times, shaping it, "Look! I have an afro," he laughed childishly.

Hiyoshi knocked him upside the head, shaking his head at his childish antics and pushed him backwards into the water spray to wash the shampoo out. “Brat, make yourself useful and grab the conditioner behind you.”

Akaya laughed until he was pushed under the water and tilted his head back so none of the soap got in his eyes. He reached back behind him and grabbed the bottle of conditioner then handed it to his boyfriend without looking. "I’m not a brat," he said automatically and reached up to run his fingers through his hair and make sure all of the soap was out.

“Yes you are,” Hiyoshi snorted as he took the conditioner and repeated the process. He pulled Akaya forward and nipped at his lips while still massaging the conditioner into his boyfriends scalp. “But you’re my brat,” he smirked.

Akaya groaned at the little nips but smiled back afterwards. "I'm yours, but I'm still not a brat," he said with a little laugh and captured Hiyoshi’s lips in another quick kiss.

Hiyoshi chuckled. “You just keep telling yourself that, brat. Now rinse off.”

"Yeah, yeah," Akaya answered with a big grin and leaned back into the water to rinse out his hair. He used the opportunity to stretch as well. He toyed with his hair for a moment and frowned, "My hair's gettin long... Maybe I should cut it..." He mumbled and pulled it over his eyes a bit. It was long enough to cover them and he smirked. "I'm Sadako..." In a quiet gravely voice, "7 days..."

Hiyoshi gave him a confused look. “Who’s Sadako? …What’s in 7 days?” He knew the brat was crazy and sometimes ridiculous, but that was just creepy. Turning around, he got the shampoo again to wash his own hair.

Akaya nearly fell flat on his face, "You've never seen the ring?! It's a movie!" He sighed and set his forehead on Hiyoshi’s shoulder. Of course Hiyoshi hadn't seen the ring. It was Hiyoshi. He snorted and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. "You may be pop culture challenged, but," he kissed the other boy’s shoulder, "but I still really love you," he said quietly. It wasn't until the words were out of his mouth that he realized what he'd said. His face turned bright red. He - he did - just like in those cheesy romance movies. He loved Hiyoshi. Crap, his boyfriend was going to laugh at him or get mad at him or something, he just knew it.

Hiyoshi froze; the shampoo half in his hair and dripping down the side of his face. The brat didn’t just say… “Wh-what did you just say? Wait. Never mind,” he must have been hearing things. There was no way Akaya just said what he thought he did. There was no way he could handle it and still believe he could someday… With his back still to the brat, completely forgetting about the shampoo in his hair, he mumbled, “My brain isn’t working properly. I told you you’re slowly driving me crazy.” He gave an awkward laugh, “I haven’t been sleeping. Maybe it’s getting to me.” He was rambling to himself out loud and he knew it. Before he could embarrass himself any further, he started to leave the bathroom.

Akaya grabbed Hiyoshi’s wrist and held him where he was. "Wakashi, please don't go..." He said quietly, "I said what you think I said... I won't say it again if you don’t want me to... Just... don't leave, okay? I--I've never said that to anyone before..." He mumbled and hid behind his wet hair, "But... I mean it..." He forced a smile and looked at Hiyoshi, "Besides, you still have shampoo in your hair," he shook nervously and he gripped his boyfriend’s wrist a bit tighter than he meant to.

The still shocked martial artist was having a hard time processing what Akaya was saying, his brain still trying to convince him he was imagining it. Closing the door, he asked Akaya to “wait a moment” then walked under the spray. He needed a minute to gather his thoughts without interruption. Akaya had told him he loved him. He applied the conditioner. Akaya had been serious. He washed it out and watched it go down the drain. Akaya wasn’t going to leave him. He walked towards the automatic self-filling bath. “You want to get in?” He looked back over at Akaya and held out his hand.

Akaya watched him the whole time feeling ready to cry. He was scared and felt vulnerable, but he would wait a moment just like Hiyoshi wanted him to. At least he didn't leave. It took his brain a minute to register his boyfriend was talking to him though, and when it did, he blushed lightly again and nodded. He took Hiyoshi’s hand with his still shaking one and held onto it for dear life.

They both sank into the oversized bathtub, the hot water being almost too much against Hiyoshi’s already over heated skin, but he didn’t care. Despite its large size, Hiyoshi pulled Akaya into his lap between his legs, back against his chest, arms wrapped loosely around him. He had to be honest with him. That wouldn’t be easy.

Resting his chin on Akaya’s shoulder, he began quietly, “While I was home over break… my parents brought up finding another fiancé for me. I figured… since you’ll get sick of me sooner or later and leave me, it didn’t matter what they did. You asked me earlier to sleep with you. I’m… not sure if I’d be able to handle it if I gave myself to you and then you left me.” He covered Akaya’s mouth with his hand before he had a chance to interrupt. He already felt pathetic and weak for admitting that, but he needed to finish before he let Akaya talk and tell him he was idiot. “You… surprised me. No one has ever told me that before. I… I never thought you would actually stay with me for this long. Hell, I thought you’d get bored with me after the first week. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nothing terribly interesting or appealing about me.” His face was burning. He knew he wasn’t explaining very well, but he needed to finish it. “We haven’t actually been together that long, and I have no idea what the hell I’m doing when I’m with you. I don’t know what I would do if you left me now.”

Akaya had wanted to interrupt, but the hand on his mouth stopped him. He sat patiently, listening to Hiyoshi with his eyes closed. He smiled and kissed his boyfriends hand as he finished and slowly pulled it from his mouth. He turned, and this time, it was his turn to straddle the other man. "I'm not going to leave you Wakashi," he said quietly and rested his forehead against his boyfriend’s. "You're stubborn and hard for me to understand sometimes," he said quietly, "but... you're not boring. You're anything but boring... I know I'm hard to deal with. Hell, the senpai tell me that every day, but you put up with all of it and make me happy... I've never cared about anyone this much... Not even when I liked fukubuchou... This is so much more than that ever was..." His face turned tomato red and he found his blush matched Hiyoshi’s, "And I'll say it as many times as I have to until you get it in your mushroom head..." He smiled and brushed his lips over Hiyoshi’s. "I love you, Wakashi. I won't ever leave you, not unless you tell me to. I will stay by your side and be your brat forever."

Hiyoshi closed his eyes and let the words soak in. It wasn’t possible for them to actually stay together forever, the world would find a way to take his brat away from him, but for now, he was more than content. He leaned into Akaya, holding him closer, kissing him between each breath. “I’m worried about losing the dojo, I’m worried about school, I’m worried about a lot of things right now, but most of all I’m worried about losing you.” He sighed and gave Akaya a half smile. “I’ll be with you for as long as you want me.”

"Good," Akaya said with a big childish grin, "'Cause that means you're stuck with me forever," he laughed and pressed their lips together quickly again. "About the dojo, we just gotta be really careful about not letting your parents find out. You'll get the dojo, Wakashi. If you don't, then we'll start our own. It can be the Demon Dojo!" he chuckled quietly. "About school, if you need tutoring or something, the senpai-tachi can help. I mean, I could try, but I don't think it would do any good."

Akaya’s ridiculous ideas made it sound so simple, which made him smile as he was kissed again. “I guess I have no choice then but to believe you.” Even though he knew it couldn’t possibly be that simple. He’d had enough of the gloomy atmosphere. He wanted Akaya to continue smiling at him like that. “If you’re right though, and prove me wrong, I may just have to get my revenge.” Hiyoshi grabbed Akaya low on his hips and pulled him forward so they were now chest to chest, hip to hip. “I’ll make you deal with me loving you back…” He trailed off as he nipped at the other boy’s lips before completely capturing them. He leaned foreword into the kiss, not able to get enough of the other boy’s taste, gravity and desire slowly pulling them forward… until they fell, still lip locked, backward into the water.

Akaya didn't have any time to respond because he was cut off by a kiss, not that he minded. He kissed back happily. As they leaned back, his first thought was that they were finally going to do it. Then a moment later, he realized they were still in the tub. But before he could say anything, they were underwater. His eyes went wide and he pushed up out of the water quickly, bringing Hiyoshi’s with him. He coughed and sputtered for a minute before just laughing like he didn't have a care in the world.

Well that was about as unromantic as you could get. Damn. Hiyoshi had just implied inadvertently that he loved the brat. He cursed the fates as he emerged from the water with a laughing Akaya, alternating between coughing and glaring. Akaya laughing was nice, but at the moment, it was also annoying, so he splashed him.

Akaya yelped and fell back into the water at the unexpected splash. "Hey!" He snapped when he surfaced, "I'll get you for that!" he threatened and brushed his hair out of his face, he definitely needed a hair cut.

“Oh really? How?” Hiyoshi splashed him again, thinking how cute Akaya was, sputtering like that. His hair looked really crazy and he wanted to run his hands through it again.

Akaya flailed again and splashed Hiyoshi back, then moved closer while the other man was distracted. Before he could get splashed again, he pressed their lips together roughly with a little moan.

It was way too easy for Akaya to distract him, Hiyoshi thought as both his hands immediately came up to tangle in Akaya’s hair as he’d wanted to do only a moment before. He kissed him back with equal force and with an answering moan. He was in his own little demon brat induced heaven as Akaya took control of the kiss and sunk back down into the water, his body automatically wrapping around the chibi demons.

Akaya smiled into the kiss as he changed angles and invaded the other boy’s mouth. It was familiar and comfortable and left his whole body burning. He held Hiyoshi close and ran his hands all over the bare skin he could reach.

Hiyoshi would never be able to admit just how much he enjoyed those hands on him, completely submitting to both the kiss and Akaya’s touch. When he pulled back for air, a louder moan than usual escaped his lips, the otherwise quiet tiled room making it seem even louder. Harsh breathing followed before his lips were covered again. He had been hard again for a while and possibly clinically insane do to what the brat was doing to him both physically and mentally.

This was torture. Akaya could feel Hiyoshi’s erection pressed up against him and his own pressed up so close to his target. He wanted so bad to keep going, to touch him, to be touched. To take him, right there on the bathroom floor. Hell, even in the tub was ok with him. He just didn't want to just dream about it anymore, but he was a good boyfriend, he would honor Hiyoshi’s wishes and give him time to think about it. He didn't want to push him into it and make him end up hating it. He moaned quietly at the unfairness of it all and moved his hand down to stroke his boyfriend under the water.

Hiyoshi moaned again at the contact to his arousal, leaning into the touch while also unconsciously rubbing against Akaya’s erection. His emotions were already strung so taunt, it wasn’t going to take much for him to break and his body to follow suit and just let go. Making a decision, he pulled back from the kiss and breathed harshly into Akaya’s ear, all the while still moving on top of him. “When we get home, I’ll be ready.” He bit down on his bottom lip as usual to hold in his moan as he came, but forgot that it was still soar from earlier and instinctively let go at the pain, releasing the moan he always held in, a string of forceful moans and Akaya’s name.

That was good to know. Now he had something to look forward to when break was over, but listening to Hiyoshi say his name like that had him hard to the point of being painful and he knew he couldn't just ignore it or it would become a medical condition that he hated and was all to familiar with. With a light kiss, Akaya slowly moved his boyfriend off his lap and leaned back against the side of the tub, his legs spread so his hand could wrap around his own erection and start pumping it quick and hard, just the way he liked it.

When Hiyoshi started gaining mental facilities back, he looked over at Akaya and might have come again if he wasn’t already exhausted and spent. Akaya’s eyes were closed and his was mouth parted, breathing heavily. The water was stirring beneath them and it didn’t take an expert to know what was going on. Shifting closer, but not wanting to interrupt, he touched the side of Akaya’s face gently and leaned in close to his ear. “You know, you don’t look so much like a brat when you’re like this… I would even say you look kind of sexy.” he quipped. “I might have felt guilty if I wasn’t enjoying the view so much.” He kissed his way down Akaya’s neck, but never took his eyes off his boyfriend for too long.

At the touch to his cheek, Akaya’s eyes shot open and they met Hiyoshi’s, though they were unfocused and glazed over with pleasure. The quiet words in his ear drove him to stroke harder and faster, his boyfriend knew exactly what he was doing to him. "Wakashi..." he all but whimpered as he slid his other hand under the water to disappear down in the same area his first hand was, but this time his arm didn't move in the same way as the first. The movement was all lateral as he pushed a finger in and out of himself along with his strokes. With the little kisses and licks to his neck, it wasn't hard to pretend it was something else that was moving inside of him.

Well that was interesting. Hiyoshi’s eyes widened when he realized what Akaya was doing to himself, who he imagined was doing it to him. Hiyoshi snickered and brought Akaya’s face sideways to his. “You always manage to surprise me, you know that?” His hands went to tease at his nipples and chest area while he alternated between licking his lips and kissing him.

"You love it," Akaya said with a little smirk between deep moans. "Nn... fuck…" he whispered against Hiyoshi’s lips and both of his arms froze as his whole body tensed up and he arched off the side of the tub. He came in long white streams in the water and then collapsed back, panting, with both of his hands at his sides.

Hiyoshi brought Akaya’s body back against his, cuddling him to his chest. His hand reached between Akaya’s legs to gently stroke him a few more times, enjoying the look on his boyfriend’s face as he did so. “Yes, I think you’re right.” He said to him matter of fact. “I love seeing you like this...” He paused for an instant before resuming small kisses along his neck and throat. That was the second time this evening that word had escaped from his mouth.

Akaya rested back against Hiyoshi and closed his eyes, enjoying the little kisses. "It feels good to say it," he mumbled tiredly. "I love you." he repeated and smiled, "I like being able to tell you that." He yawned and nuzzled the side of his boyfriend’s neck.

Hiyoshi nodded with a smile, knowing his boyfriend could feel it. It really did feel good to be honest with his feelings, in that moment he was completely content. “If we stay in here much longer, we’re going to turn into prunes.” He chuckled, “Let’s get out and go to bed. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t slept much this week because someone wasn’t there to keep me warm.” It was true; Hiyoshi got cold easily and had grown too used to Akaya being there as his human heater since they started sharing a bed most nights.

"When do you have to go back to your parent’s house?" Akaya asked quietly as he reluctantly pried himself from Hiyoshi’s grasp and climbed out of the tub. He grabbed two towels off the rack and offered one to his boyfriend. He would be glad to have the other man stay near him all night, but he didn't want to endanger the chances of Hiyoshi coming over to his house.

“Now.” Hiyoshi replied honestly, “but I’m not going to.” He toweled himself off. “I won’t be here in the morning when you wake up though.” He could sleep for a few hours and set his watch to wake up and get home before his parents woke. He would ask then if he could leave with Akaya for the last few days of break.

"Okay," Akaya stretched out and dried his hair the best he could with a towel then dropped it to the floor and trudged into the bedroom, buck naked. He stretched his hands above his head, his hair still straight around his face, making him look suspiciously like that snake guy from Seigaku. He jumped onto the bed and curled up under the covers then pulled down the other side so Hiyoshi could crawl in with him.

Hiyoshi chuckled, not bothering to put anything on either, and set his watch alarm for 3:30am before climbing in beside Akaya. Basically collapsing next to him in exhaustion, he knew he wouldn’t be awake for much longer, but still wanted to feel his brat next to him before he fell asleep. He pulled Akaya half on top of him, already feeling his warmth lulling him to sleep.

Akaya gladly snuggled up to his boyfriend’s side with a big smile. He nuzzled the other man’s neck and let out a quiet sigh. "Night Wakashi..." With that out he was gone. All thoughts of parents and everything bad, gone. All that was left was sweet dreams of the two of them and pizza.


	16. Chapter 16

Akaya kicked his feet up on the corner of his desk and pulled his computer onto his lap. He’d been back at the school now for two days without his mushroom and was getting fidgety. After they’d both gone to see his family, Hiyoshi’d had to go home for one more day. He was supposed to call him when he got back, but it was getting late and he still hadn’t heard from him. Annoyed, he clicked onto his email and saw his boyfriend had messaged him almost two hours ago. The last paragraph caught his attention.

“My brother was home. It might have been nice to see him since I haven’t spoken with him in a while if he hadn’t been coughing all over me. Needless to say, I wouldn’t recommend visiting me in the next few days.”

Akaya’s eyes went wide as he understood what the entry was saying. Wakashi was not only back, but he was sick?! He set the computer back on the desk and closed it before slipping on his shoes and running out the door.

Hiyoshi was lying in bed fully clothed, hadn’t bothered changing or unpacking. He was cold but didn’t want to move, sleep eluding him. Whenever he finally felt himself drifting off, coughs would seize him and he’d have to sit up in order to breath again. His throat was sore and his head was pounding. He knew he had a fever but was too stubborn to take anything for it, determined to beat it off on his own. What kind of martial artist was he? Being defeated by a stupid cough... If he could just get some sleep, he was sure he would be fine enough to go to classes by tomorrow. Even if he wasn’t, he still wouldn’t miss them. He refused to miss Kendo again.

He hoped Akaya had read his email and gotten the hint not to come over. Knowing the brat though, he’d taken precautions and not only locked the door but bolted it with a chair as he’d once seen him do to keep Sanada out. The last thing he wanted to do was get his boyfriend sick or let him see him looking so pathetic.

Akaya turned the knob to Hiyoshi’s door only to find it locked. With a stubborn frown he pulled a lock picking tool (aka bobby pin) out of his mess of hair and got to work. He was used to picking this lock and it only took him a matter of seconds, but when he tried to open the door, he found it blocked once again. He glared at it and frowned. "Wakashi!! I know you're in there!"

Hiyoshi heard the lock being picked and had to smirk. Yep, he’d called it. Maybe if he just stayed silent Akaya would go away. Then a coughing fit hit him hard and he had to sit up again. Damn it. There was no way Akaya didn’t hear that. “Go away, brat. I don’t want you here right now.” His voice came out all scratchy and he both internally and externally winced at the sound.

"Lemme in!" The demon brat grumbled again and kicked at the door. "I don't care if you're sick!" He pouted and kicked the door again, not hard, but hard enough to rattle it against the chair.

Hiyoshi groaned. Akaya was such a pest sometimes, but he wasn’t going to give in just yet. “You’re going to get sick if you come in here. You won’t be able to play tennis.” He hated his body acting so weak like this, and would have growled if it didn’t hurt his throat to do so.

"Will not! I never get sick!" Akaya was proud of his immune system, damn it, he was not going to be underestimated, even by his boyfriend. Suddenly the pout was replaced by a devilish little smirk. "Come on Wakashi, I'm not going to try and sleep with you when you're not feeling well. We'll wait 'til you're all better. Then I'll make sure the walls rattle and that all your neighbors know just what we're doing," That should be enough to drag his stubborn hermit boyfriend out of his cave.

If Hiyoshi’s face hadn’t already been flushed by the fever, it would have been now. He angrily got out of bed, kicked the chair out of the way and yanked the door open. He looked like a mess, his clothes in disarray, hair ruffled, cheeks flushed but skin pale. “Stupid brat! Don’t say thi—“ He broke off in coughing fit.

As soon as the door opened Akaya’s little smug smirk fell, "O-Oi, you look awful!" He quickly ushered his boyfriend inside and closed the door before leading him back to the bed. "You were fine two days ago! What the hell happened?" He sat Hiyoshi down and took a seat next to him with an arm around him.

Hiyoshi continued glaring at his boyfriend but it was a weak glare since he didn’t have the energy to feel truly annoyed. He covered his mouth as he spoke, determined to keep his germs to himself, but unconsciously leaned slightly into Akaya’s warmth. For once, he actually seemed a little too warm, but it was better than being cold. “My brother brought it home and decided to share. The last day at home was hell.”

"Oh..." Akaya mumbled and nuzzled the side of Hiyoshi’s head before kissing his hair softly. "I'll take care of you then, since I won't get sick," he smiled and rubbed his boyfriend’s side softly, trying his best to be comforting. He had no idea how to take care of a sick person, but he'd manage somehow.

Looking over at his boyfriend skeptically, Hiyoshi debated the wisdom in that. He already felt like shit, he didn’t need to babysit a chibi demon brat on top of it. “I’ll be fine, brat. I can take care of myself. Why don’t you go bother one of your senpai or somet-“ His cough started again and stood up to get himself some more water. His throat felt like sandpaper and he cursed under his breath when his legs felt wobbly as he stood up, but he managed stubbornly.

Akaya stood up next to him quickly and wrapped his arm around him again to help support him, "Sit down, dummy! You're gonna make yourself worse, I'll get you some water."

Still glaring at Akaya but doing as told, Hiyoshi sat back down on the bed. He didn’t want to be babied, damn it! He silently vowed that he wouldn’t show any more weakness or fall asleep until the other boy left.

Akaya did as promised and got some water for his boyfriend and brought it over to him. "Here, now stop being stubborn and let me take care of you." He sat down next to him and frowned at him. He hated being powerless to cure Hiyoshi, but at least he could take care of him. "Now after you drink that lie down and get some rest, I'll go get you soup."

“I don’t want any soup.” Hiyoshi grouched out and crossed his arms over his chest. His face which was supposed to look menacing instead came out looking like a pouty five year old who’s mom just told him it was time for bed. “I will not be babied by you.” Besides, how was he supposed to get some rest with all his clothes still on? He conveniently forgot that just a few minutes ago he had been trying to do just that.

"I'm not babying you, idiot," Akaya glared right back and crossed his arms over his chest, trying his best to mimic Sanada’s intimidating look and actually didn’t do too bad of a job. "What's wrong with taking care of the person you like, huh? You'd do the same if I was sick." It didn't matter if he didn't get sick; it was the principle of the thing.

With his arms still crossed, Hiyoshi mumbled under his breath about how it was brat’s who needing to be taken care of, not him, and he stubbornly looked to the side wall and not at Akaya. “I’m not weak enough that I need you or anyone else to take care of me.” It didn’t matter if he was sick. It was the principle of the thing.

"Fine," Akaya said snappily and stomped out of the room and down the hall. As he walked, he pulled out his cell phone and called his mom to figure out how to take care of a sick person. He walked all the way to the cafeteria and got a bowl of soup to go and started his trudge back to Hiyoshi’s room. He knew his boyfriend was stubborn, but he wasn't going to have any of it. He'd take care of him if it was the last thing he did!

The minute Akaya was out of his room, Hiyoshi slumped back on the futon, his legs still hanging off the side. Resentfully, he reached for the water Akaya had brought over for him earlier and took a small sip, the coolness soothing his inflamed throat. He felt a little guilty for making his brat leave like that, but he still had his pride after all. He frowned slightly when he realized he was cold again but didn’t have the will power at the moment to move and get under the blankets. Closing his eyes, he hoped to fall asleep before another coughing fit hit him.

When Akaya walked back in, glad to find the door unlocked still, he immediately frowned and almost dropped the container of soup. Quickly, he set it on the desk and hurried over to try and maneuver his boyfriend back under the covers. "Stupid... Don't fall asleep on top of the bed like that... No wonder you're sick..." he whispered chidingly.

“…Akaya? What are you doing here?” In the moment, having forgotten time and place, Hiyoshi leaned into his boyfriend’s warmth, half asleep. When he felt himself being moved, his mental facilities woke up. “…Not asleep, idiot.” he mumbled, “don’t take that tone with me.” If he had known he sounded like his father, he would have kicked himself. One eye cracked open to look up at the other boy. “Stop it brat, I need to get changed first.”

"And you don't take that tone with me," Akaya growled back and started tugging up on Hiyoshi’s shirt. "Let's get you changed so you can go to sleep," he mumbled.

Hiyoshi let Akaya help take his shirt off but didn’t attempt to remove his pants. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. I haven’t been able to sleep for more then ten-fifteen minutes at a time anyway. Damn stupid cough.” Of course, the coughs chose that moment to attack and he reached over for the water again. “Why did you come back? I thought you left.”

"Yes, it does too matter!" Akaya frowned deeper and he gestured to the soup. "I brought that for you. Eat it when you can, though you should probably rest for a bit first. It's not good to eat right before you sleep... You think I'm that terrible of a person to leave my sick boyfriend by himself? You know me better than that, Wakashi."

Hiyoshi’s eyes crossed slightly when he thought about what Akaya said and sighed, which came out as more of a groan. “This was not how I’d imagined coming back…” Looking over at the soup, he had to admit that Akaya hadn’t done anything a good boyfriend wouldn’t do. “Fine, I’ll allow you to take care of me, but just this once,” he stated stubbornly. Not willing to admit that it felt kind of nice to be taken care of.

Akaya grinned and lifted up the edge of the sheets. "Then get in here and I'll lay down with you. Rest for as long as you can, and then you can have the soup." He ran his hand through his boyfriend’s hair affectionately and waited for the other to do what he said.

Following orders grudgingly, Hiyoshi crawled under the sheets, kicking off his pants in the process, leaving him only in boxers. When he felt the hand his hair, a sense of relief ran through him and a small tired yawn escaped his lips. The brat was still a pest, but he was a warm and comfortable pest. He was still cold and having his boyfriend around was like having a convenient travel heater. “Just so we’re clear…” he was interrupted by another yawn followed by a set of small coughs, “I would be just fine by myself.”

Smiling, Akaya crawled into the bed and rolled to face his boyfriend. He slipped one arm under Hiyoshi’s head and wrapped the other around the other man’s waist and held him close, "Of course you would..." He said softly and ran his hand over the other’s back lightly and in what he hoped was a soothing way.

‘Good. As long as he’s aware…’ Was the last thing Hiyoshi thought before falling asleep to Akaya’s gentle touch, unaware of the small content smile on his lips.


	17. Chapter 17

After three days, Hiyoshi had finally started recovering from being sick. Akaya had been playing dysfunctional nurse, and as well-meant as it was, it hurt his pride to be taken care of so attentively by his boyfriend. He felt a bit guilty since he may possibly have been the worst patient ever, but he couldn’t help it. Coming back to his room from Kendo practice, he felt completely wiped out. Despite knowing that going to practice might not have been the best idea, he’d gone anyway to prove to himself he could. He had not gone to spite his boyfriend, really. When he walked into his room, he was faced with a very unexpected scene and narrowed his eyes.

Akaya checked his cell phone again as he strolled toward his boyfriend’s room. If his calculations were correct (in other words, if he remembered right), Hiyoshi should be done with Kendo and back in his room. He would have tried to stop him from going, but he knew the other man would kill him, so he'd let him.

As always, he just walked into his boyfriend’s room, but he hadn't made it two feet before he froze in his tracks and blinked in confusion. Before him was someone who was undoubtedly Hiyoshi, pinned to the floor by someone who looked like an older Hiyoshi. He stepped back slowly and closed the door, earning an odd look from Sanada who happened to be passing by on his way back from Kendo.

The older man raised an eyebrow but decided he really didn't want to know and prayed that maybe if he didn't make eye contact, Akaya wouldn't talk to him. Unfortunately, that never seemed to work.

"Fukubuchou! I think I just saw Wakashi getting raped by Wakashi from the future!!" Akaya said in a mild panic.

Yes, the ex-fukubuchou definitely didn't want to know. He walked away as fast as he could without breaking into a full run, because Sanada Genichirou didn't run away from anything, even weird people from the future.

Akaya looked back at the door apprehensively as his vice captain disappeared around the corner. He had to face the pervert from the future, for Hiyoshi. That's what good boyfriends would do. He opened the door slowly and stepped inside, "Uh... Wakashi?"

“Damn it! Get off!” Hiyoshi yelled up at his attacker. He was firmly pinned down and knew very well that he wasn’t going anywhere until the other man let him. He had come home to his older brother in his room unpacking a suitcase. This immediately sent events in motion that led to a brawl which led to Hiyoshi in his current predicament.

“It’s only for a few days little brother. You won’t even notice I’m here.” Hiyoshi Kazuya smiled down at him in a way they both knew meant Kazuya already knew he won. Then he noticed Akaya standing in the doorway. Letting go of Hiyoshi, he stood up and brushed himself off. Kazuya and Wakashi did indeed look very similar. Kazuya stood a couple inches taller and had broader shoulders, making Wakashi look small next to him. Kazuya’s face was also a bit squarer, and instead of Wakashi’s naturally serious composure, Kazuya had a classic business man’s smile that said he could make you believe anything he wanted.

Hiyoshi slowly got up off the floor, brushing himself off with a small growl. He had really hoped Kazuya and Akaya wouldn’t meet anytime this century, apparently his hopes had been for not. He was about to tell Kazuya to leave again when his mouth was promptly covered, shushing him before he could even get a word out.

“Hello, you must be a friend of Wakashi’s. I didn’t know he had any of those. I’m his older and much more socially skilled brother, Hiyoshi Kazuya. Pleasure to meet you.” He bowed politely as his smile grew when he heard his brother’s mumbled curses under his hand.

Akaya blinked at the scene before him and found himself bowing in response before he realized what was going on. "His brother..." Akaya repeated, the man had a smile like Yanagi and it made him a bit uncomfortable, but at least he wasn't an alien from the future. "He doesn't talk about you... like ever," he said flatly and honestly, "but I'm Kirihara Akaya, it's nice to meet you."

Kazuya mock frowned at his brother, “You never mentioned me? I didn’t realize I was so unimportant in your life, Wakashi.”

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and threw his brothers hand off. “Akaya, don’t pay any attention to him. He’s leaving now any-“ His body shook as he let out a huge string of coughs. Damn it, this wasn’t the time. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone to Kendo after all.

Damn it. He shouldn't have let Wakashi go to kendo. Akaya automatically handed Hiyoshi his bottle of water and frowned. "You ok?" he asked quietly. He wanted to rub his boyfriend’s back but he knew the other man would be mad at him for doing it in front of his brother.

“I’m fine.” Hiyoshi gratefully accepted the water from his boyfriend and gave him a small smile for not doing anything in front of his brother.

Kazuya’s frown turned real as he saw his brother coughing, but did not miss the exchange between the two younger boys. “Did you catch that from me last weekend? Sorry little brother, you should have said so earlier.” He patted Hiyoshi’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Onii-chan will take care good of you.” He turned towards the other boy whom Wakashi was on a first name basis with, interesting. “Thank you, Kirihara-kun. I can take it from here.” He gave the boy a nod signaling to him that it was okay for him to leave.

Akaya glared at the older man. They were about the same size and could look eye to eye easily. "It's your fault he's sick in the first place," he growled quietly, not at all happy to be brushed off that easily.

Not waiting to see what his brother would say, Hiyoshi cut in, “I don’t need anyone to take care of me! I’m almost over it anyway. I’m just tired from Kendo.” He coughed again, feeling the need to sit down. Stupid brother and boyfriend stressing him out.

Kazuya sighed and rubbed at his temples, the act very similar to another Hiyoshi. “You went to Kendo like that? Seriously, sometimes you remind me of dad so much, it’s painful. Time to wash up and go to bed. I’ll make some tea while you’re in the shower.”

Hiyoshi did not appreciate the comparison to their father. “You’re the one who should be leaving. I don’t remember ever saying it was okay for you to stay with me. Go back to the dojo if you need somewhere to stay.” Although the tea did sound good and… his brother was giving him that face. The ‘do what I say or bad things will happen to you’ face. “Akaya—“

“Kirihara-kun! Would you like to stay and help me? I’ll show you how to make Wakashi’s favorite tea!” He interrupted his brother and faced Akaya with that business man’s smile again. Kirihara-kun intrigued him and after the outburst earlier, he was looking forward to finding out just how close the younger boy was to his brother.

It was a lost cause. Looking between the two of them, Hiyoshi gave in. “Fine. Whatever.” he grumped, picking up his towel and marching out of the room. If his brother wanted to play housewife for two or three days in his room, he didn’t care. He’d go stay with Akaya or something. It didn’t hit him that it might not be such a good idea to leave the two of them alone together until after he’d entered the shower.

Akaya blinked at the older Hiyoshi’s change in attitude and the creepy Yanagi-senpai smile. It still made him uneasy and caused him to back away a little, but he stayed. When his boyfriend left the room, he turned his attention back to Kazuya. He kept his mouth shut, waiting to see what the man really wanted.

Once his brother was gone, Kazuya went to look through Wakashi’s small drawers to see where he stored his tea. “So, how long have you known my brother, Kirihara-kun? It surprised me that you’re on a first name basis with him yet I’ve never heard of you.” It shocked him, to be more precise. Wakashi had always been the private type and it was extremely out of character for him.

"Since the beginning of the school year," Akaya answered with a little frown and sat down on Wakashi’s bed, his green eyes on Kazuya. "It's over there," he said pointing to a little jar on top of the dresser, "We played tennis together in junior high though."

Kazuya’s curiosity of the other boy heightened at the boy’s apparent knowledge of his brother’s room. Taking out the gold leaf green tea bag, he inquired next, “Do you happen to know if Wakashi has a mug he keeps in the room?”

"Yeah, it's on the desk. I washed it earlier," Akaya answered simply and watched the other man in mild amusement. He knew Hiyoshi’s room better than his own (mostly because it was more organized than his own) and he couldn't help but be proud that he knew it better than his boyfriend’s brother.

Grabbing the mug off the desk, Kazuya was slightly taken back by answer. He figured it best to just get right to the point. He was naturally an easy-going person, but when it came to his younger brother, he was always serious. “You haven’t known him that well for very long, but you wash his dishes. I hope I’m not being too forward in asking, but how close would you say you are to my brother?”

Kazuya had been the original inheritor of the family dojo, but had given it up in favor of pursuing a career in business. His father had not taken his decision well, but after Wakashi had agreed to inherit, the issues between him and his family had smoothed out. The brothers had always been close, and though they hadn’t spoken as often since Wakashi had left for college, he had heard their parents talking about the change in him since he’d left. Maybe this boy was the cause of it?

It was tempting to tell the truth, Akaya wasn't ashamed of it at all, but he knew it would make Hiyoshi upset and get him in trouble, so he told the truth and left a bit out. "He's my best friend."

Kazuya smiled at him, a true smile. That had been the right answer. “That’s good. I’m glad he’s finally making new friends.” However, he knew that no one looked at their best friend the way Kirihara-kun had looked earlier at his brother, nor would he do the other’s dishes. It seemed to him that Kirihara-kun had a crush, and his brother was too innocent to notice. “Just a friendly warning though, I wouldn’t allow myself to become overly attached to Wakashi if I were you.” It was his polite way of telling the other boy to let it go.

Akaya raised an eyebrow and looked at Kazuya like he was crazy. It wasn't a hard look to pull off because he was fairly certain the older man was indeed crazy. "What do you mean?" he asked, humoring him.

Kazuya laughed out loud at the look he was given. “Don’t take it so seriously Kirihara-kun. I’m just an older brother watching out for my naïve sibling. Of course, I am in no position to tell you what to do. My family has been concerned recently that Wakashi is losing sight of his priorities. Not that I wouldn’t support him in whatever he chooses, but the last thing he needs right now is more stress. I hope you will continue to be a good friend to him and support him.”

"Uh... yeah... sure," Akaya nodded and frowned a little. He was definitely going to have to talk to Wakashi about that guy later. He was too sharp for his own good.

Hiyoshi chose that moment to walk back into the room, towel around his waist and his hair dripping wet. He’d hurried back from his shower after he realized his error of leaving the two of them alone. Before he could get a word out, Kazuya had already started talking. “That was quick. I just barely had time to make your tea.”

Looking around the room and at the two of them, Hiyoshi was happy to see the place was still in one piece and no one looked angry or upset. With a relieved sigh, he made his way to the closet to change. He had decided to let his brother stay, but that didn’t mean he was going to go two or three days without Akaya because of it. “Aniki, if you must stay then fine. I’ll go stay at Akaya’s while you’re here. He’s never in his own room anyway.” He didn’t need to tell him that the reason Akaya was never in his own room was because he was with him. He looked over at Akaya for approval.

Smiling, Akaya nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," he said coolly, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. He was glad he wasn't going to get ignored just because Hiyoshi’s brother was here. Maybe after Wakashi was feeling a little better they could even sleep together like they'd said they would.

“You don’t need to be like that Wakashi! We never get to see each other anymore and you know I don’t mind the floor. Kirihara-kun and I became better acquainted while you were in the shower, and I must say you’ve done a good job of picking out your friends if they’re willing to do your dishes for you, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend time with your big brother.”

At that, Hiyoshi felt a bit guilty. He hadn’t spent any time with his brother, and it wouldn’t be right to ignore him in favor of Akaya when he saw his boyfriend every day. Wait, how did his brother know that Akaya did his dishes?

“Plus, you’re still sick. As your big brother, I should be the one to take care of you. It wouldn’t be polite to impose on a friend like that.” He could tell by Wakashi’s facial expression that he was starting to win him over. “Here’s your tea by the way.” He handed him the tea, bitter, no sugar.

At Kazuya’s words, Akaya frowned. He wanted to argue but he knew he shouldn't. He didn't want to make Hiyoshi mad. It was funny how most of his life revolved around that want now, "It's up to you Wakashi."

Hiyoshi glared at both of them. Why were they putting him in this position? Couldn’t they see he wasn’t feeling well and all he wanted to do was to be left alone? Okay… and maybe be cuddled by Akaya a bit… damn it. He shook his head. Giving Akaya an apologetic glance, he gave in to his older brother. “Fine, I’ll stay here, but it better only be for two or three days at the most.”

“Pinky promise.” Kazuya held out his pinky and mock waved it back and forth knowing his brother wouldn’t take it, glad he’d won. Family always came first after all.

Hiyoshi smirked and shook his head at his brother’s ridiculous behavior, before turning back to Akaya. “Thanks for coming by. I’ll see you later?”

Akaya stood and let his bangs cover his eyes for a moment before looking up with a smile that would look genuine to anyone who didn't know him. But, to those who did, they would be able to tell immediately how hard he was trying to hide his emotions. His chest hurt and what he wanted more than anything was to be out of that room. He didn't understand why Hiyoshi would choose his brother over him when he would drop his sister immediately to be with his boyfriend. He and his sister had never really gotten along and would usually do anything to stay away from each other. "Yeah... later," he said chipperly and walked out, without another word.


	18. Chapter 18

Throughout the three days he’d spent with his little brother, Kazuya had gradually come to figure out what had changed in him. Now that he looked back on it, it should have been obvious from the start, but he’d never even thought to look for the signs. The way he talked about that Kirihara kid, the way he was having trouble sleeping at night as if searching for something out of reach, he’d even said the kid’s name in his sleep once (which had been disturbing). Originally, he’d thought it was just Kirihara-kun, but now he knew with troubling certainty that the feelings were mutual. This was not a good thing. He had nothing against those who preferred their own gender, what he had a problem with was that this was going to cause a lot of problems for his brother.

Wakashi was supposed to take over the family dojo, be married off to some influential daughter, and produce his own heirs. He knew this all too well because that had once been his own future. He had never felt guilty for placing that weight on his brother’s shoulders since Wakashi had seemed all too happy to have it. If this continued, and Wakashi allowed himself to fall too deeply into this, he may be irreparably hurt in the end.

He was leaving today, but there was still something he had to do. He knew his brother better than anyone, and he knew that talking to Wakashi about it wouldn’t do him any good, but if he could make Kirihara-kun see reason… He had to at least try. Even if Wakashi got angry at him, he would forgive him eventually; this is what family did after all. Interfere were they’re not wanted but still needed.

Kazuya had been happy to announce his brother’s full recovery from being sick and said his goodbyes that morning before his brother had gone off to class. He wandered around the campus for a bit trying to find which dorm Kirihara-kun was in, which was not too difficult. When he got there, he asked one of the other students which room he was in. Smiling, trying not to come off too intimidating for showing up announced, he knocked at the door and waited for a response.

Akaya didn't even pause his game of DOA4 since there were very few people who ever came by his room anymore. "It's open!" he called over his shoulder and button mashed, "Oh come on! I totally got that! Bastard!" he growled at the screen as the letters KO came up nice and big. "Fuck!" he snapped and threw his controller across the room. Thankfully, it was a nerf controller, so it didn't lodge in the wall like the last one.

Letting himself in, Kazuya walked into the room and took a quick look around. The place was a mess, not a huge mess, definitely not as bad as his room used to be, but he didn’t expect this kind of mess from someone his brother was apparently seeing. “Have I caught you at a bad time, Kirihara-kun?”

At the voice, Akaya spun around and glared at the intruder. "What do you want?" he asked, not quite in the mood for pleasantries at the moment.

“I would like to talk to you about my brother.” The older Hiyoshi came straight to the point. “He doesn’t know I’m here, but I think it’s important that we talk. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the two of you are seeing each other, correct?”

Akaya’s frown deepened and he tried to figure out what to do. Should he tell the truth and possibly get Hiyoshi in trouble or lie? Well, he always was a good liar (when it wasn't to his senpai or Wakashi). "What gave you that idea?" he asked and looked at Kazuya like he was crazy.

“Let’s just say my little brother is not the best as keeping secrets. Look, I’m not here to place judgment on you or him, and rest assured I’m not going to intervene more than what happens in this room, I just want to talk.” Posture and voice as casual as possible, not wanting to upset the other boy who was obviously not in the best of moods, Kazuya requested, “May I sit?”

Akaya frowned. Why would have Hiyoshi told his brother about them when he couldn't? Ugh, he didn't understand his boyfriend at all. "If you want," he grumbled and watched the man carefully. He didn't want to have to talk to the bastard more than he had to. He didn't know why he couldn't stand the guy, but every time he saw him, he just wanted to punch him. Was it because Wakashi had chosen his brother over him? Probably, but that sounded petty so there had to be something else to it.

“Thank you.” Kazuya sat on the floor with his knees crossed so he was at Kirihara-kun’s level. “Please hear me out. I know that the two of you may… care for each other, but you must know that it will cause nothing but problems for my brother.” Before the boy could interrupt he continued, “You know that he has responsibilities and dreams. One’s he has chosen for himself and being involved with you hurts that.” The words came out as gentle as possible. His purpose here was not to anger the kid, just to make him see reason.

Akaya wondered how mad Hiyoshi would get if he decked the guy. He'd probably not talk to him for a week or two, and he would probably have to wait even longer to sleep with him, but it was so tempting. "Get out," he said quietly and dangerously, his eyes flashing red as he glared at the older man. He refused to acknowledge the other man’s stupid thoughts. They were happy together, that was what mattered.

The elder Hiyoshi brother saw the look in the other boy’s eyes and sighed. Getting up, he made his way to the door. He had at least hoped they could talk about it calmly. He got to the door and stopped. “As you may well know, my brother does not always know how to look out for himself very well, nor does he become attached to people easily. When he does, he tends to always put those people before him. He prefers to take care of people over being taken care of.” This was the truth and a huge frustration for both him and their parents. “If he truly cares for you, as I suspect he does, he’s probably already concerned about these matters. He may even be hoping that you’ll leave him so that you’ll not be hurt in the end when he’ll undoubtedly have to leave you. Yes, he will eventually have to leave you.”

Akaya grabbed his nearby controller and threw it with deadly accuracy at the spot a mere inch from Kazuya’s head. "GET OUT!" He yelled, his eyes turning red again and staying that way. He didn't care who they were, he was not going to take someone coming into his room and telling him his boyfriend was going to leave him.

Kazuya didn’t even flinch as the controller sailed by his head and smashed into the wall. As the eldest son of a martial arts family, he’d had much more dangerous things thrown at him. “Good luck, Kirihara-kun. Give my regards to Wakashi.” He walked out the door and down the hall. He wasn’t going to regret this. He would gladly let Wakashi take whatever anger he had over this out on him. It had needed to be said, and now, he wouldn’t get involved any further.

As Kazuya left, Akaya ran forward and slammed the door shut. He locked it and fell to his knees, his hands still on the door. "He's not going to leave me!" He screamed and hit the door once with both fists before he finally calmed down enough to pull his cell phone out of his pocket and typed out a message to Hiyoshi with shaking hands. 'I love you' Short and simple. He pressed the send button and turned to sit back against the door.

There was less than ten minutes left of class when Hiyoshi felt his cell phone vibrating in his jacket pocket. Glancing down, he noticed it was a text message from Akaya. Looking to make sure the teacher wasn’t watching, he flipped it open under the desk to read it. ‘I love you.’ His heart skipped a beat, his breath hitched, and his face turned red. DAMN IT. Akaya should know he was in class and this was embarrassing and he… hadn’t seen his brat for more then a few minutes at a time since his brother got here. He really wanted to see him..

The last ten minutes of class were torture. Thank goodness it was his last class of the day. The moment the class was released, he ran out and headed toward Akaya’s dorm. He wondered what had prompted that message, not that he was complaining, he thought with a grin. He had been fairly certain and worried that Akaya was unhappy with him for hanging out with his brother, even though it had been Akaya who had told him he could in the first place.

It only took a few minutes to arrive since he basically ran across the campus. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes since he got the text. He tried to open Akaya’s door, but it was locked. Akaya never locked his door. Frowning, he knocked.

Hearing the knock at the door, Akaya looked up from where he was leaning back against it. "Who is it?" he asked, sounding tired and pathetic. He hadn't slept well ever since Hiyoshi’s stupid brother had arrived. Without waiting for an answer, he scooted out of the way and opened the door without standing up. He looked up and saw his boyfriend and was instantly on his feet. He wrapped his arms around the other man and held onto him for dear life. "Don't leave me, ever, okay? Please." he said quietly.

“Huh?” Suddenly his arms were full of demon brat, not that he was complaining, but they were still in the doorway. Feeling Akaya’s death grip on him not letting up, Hiyoshi just wrapped his arms around him and picked him up. The brat was surprisingly light as he brought him the rest of the way into the room. It must be his strength was finally coming back. “What brought this on?” he asked as he maneuvered them into the room and sat down on the bed, one hand ran soothingly up and down his back while the other combed through messy curls. “I’ve missed you,” he admitted with a small blush.

"Your stupid brother," Akaya whispered, not at all minding being picked up and carried. Right now he just wanted the contact. "I missed you too," he said quietly and sat back to look at his boyfriend with still red bloodshot eyes. "I can't make them change back. Every time I think about what he said, I get upset again..."

Hiyoshi’s own eyes widened when he saw Akaya’s. What the hell happened with his brother? Hadn’t he left? When Akaya’s eyes turned red like that it meant that something had either really pissed him off or upset him. Akaya being the priority over the problem, he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against Akaya’s forehead before trailing it down to his nose and settling just over his lips. “Kiss me?” he requested just above a whisper.

Without hesitation, Akaya pressed their lips together. His kiss was needy and desperate, but he didn't care. He was desperate and he did need Hiyoshi, more than anything. The little kisses to his nose and forehead calmed him down some, but the kiss on the lips slowly changed his eyes back to normal.

Hiyoshi answered him kiss for kiss trying to reassure him with his lips. Slowly the kiss changed from desperate and needy to slow and tender, until Hiyoshi was merely nipping at his lips contentedly, trying to catch his breath. Drawing back, still licking at Akaya’s lips as he did so, he smiled to see the red had gone to be replaced with the much favored green. Taking a calming breath for both of them, he held his brat tightly against him. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

"Your stupid brother came by," Akaya admitted quietly and pouted against his boyfriend’s shoulder. "He said I'm just trouble for you and that you're going to leave me..." he grumbled and wrapped his arms tightly around the other boy like he would disappear any minute.

Hiyoshi froze in that moment for a couple of reasons. The most important one being, how did his brother find out they were together? “How did he find out about us?” He asked in a whisper, his grip not loosening.

Now that got Akaya’s attention. He sat back a little again to look at Hiyoshi curiously. "He said you weren't very good at keeping secrets... I thought you told him."

“No… I didn’t. I have no idea how he found out.” Hiyoshi sighed and leaned his head forward against Akaya’s shoulder. This was a delicate situation. The truth was, technically, Akaya was trouble for him, but he was a trouble he would rather live with than without. He was worth it, despite all the problems and heartache it might cause in the future. “But if he does know and he talked to you about it, he probably didn’t mean any harm by it. He won’t try to interfere.”

”I threw a controller at him..." Akaya mumbled and nuzzled the side of Hiyoshi’s head with a slightly regretful look. Mainly he was worried about his controller. It wasn't a nerf one like his main one that he'd already thrown.

Hiyoshi gave him a sideways glance and chuckled a bit. “Don’t worry, I’ve thrown much worse things at him.” Deadly weapons, among other things. “I know my brother. He won’t hold it against you.”

"I don't give a shit if he holds it against me," Akaya mumbled with a little growl, "I just hope it didn't break my controller. I like that one."

Hiyoshi frowned. He didn’t like the idea of his brother and Akaya not getting along. Kazuya was the family member he was closest to. “I’ll buy you a new one if it’s broken, but couldn’t you try to get along with him? As annoying as he is, he’s still my brother.” Maybe it didn’t matter, who knew when of if they’d meet again anyway, but he still couldn’t help asking Akaya seriously. It was important to him for some reason.

Akaya frowned, knowing this was important to his boyfriend. He sighed and nodded, "Alright... I'll try from now on... I promise..." he said quietly and rested his forehead against Hiyoshi’s.

“Thank you.” Hiyoshi grinned and just stayed there, forehead’s touching, looking at his brat, no one there to disturb them.

"Nee," Akaya said quietly, "You're feeling better now right?" he had to be, to be able to carry Akaya around. He let his features curl into a devious smirk, "Does that mean we get to sleep together now?"

Eyes widened, pulse quickened. Akaya was right; he had said they could sleep together once they got back to the dorms. Only, saying it and doing it were two completely different things. Wasn’t there some kind of mood for that kind of thing? Back at the hotel he had definitely been in the right mood, but now in Akaya’s room in the middle of the day? Weren’t there a lot of people around? Didn’t you have to be prepared for something like that? They had never really talked about specifics, and although Hiyoshi wasn’t experienced, he wasn’t completely in the dark of what went on either. You weren’t friends with Gakuto for so many years without knowing some details… And he really needed to stop thinking about Gakuto (which killed his sex drive) when he was supposed to be thinking of Akaya (which did the opposite). They hadn’t even discussed…

Akaya noticed the change in his boyfriend’s demeanor and could tell he'd just gone off into his own little world. "Wakashi~" he said in a sing song voice. "Relax, everything will be fine. If you're not ready we can wait, okay?"

Breaking out of inner-monologue la la land at Akaya’s words, Hiyoshi narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t say I wasn’t ready. I’m just… not completely prepared is all.” What he really meant was that he was nervous as all hell, but he didn’t want to tell his boyfriend that.

"Completely prepared?" Akaya smiled and kissed the other man softly. "I'll prepare you as we go along, how's that?" He asked with a little light laugh in his tone. "You don't have to be nervous."

“Who said I was nervous, brat?” Hiyoshi asked sullenly. It really sucked being the one with less experience. “By the way, how do you intend for this to happen? You don’t think I’m just gonna let you take me, do you?” He’d been trying to warm up to the idea for weeks, but he didn’t know if his male pride could handle it.

"Eh?" Akaya blinked and stared at his boyfriend. "You're not topping on your first time," he said and stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend quickly. "I wanna be able to walk tomorrow. Besides, it's good for ya to know what it feels like to bottom before you top. You just gotta trust me and I'll teach you everything, k?"

“What do you mean, you want to be able to walk tomorrow?” Hiyoshi glared at his boyfriend. Obviously there were a few more things he hadn’t considered. This wasn’t sex-ed and he wasn’t Akaya’s student. Maybe he needed to do some studying of his own. He stood up, making Akaya slide off his lap. “I think I need to look into this a little bit on my own first…” he mumbled out loud, and started walking towards the door.

Sighing, the chibi demon grabbed his boyfriend’s wrist. "Wakashi, stop. Look, I just meant that if the person on top doesn't know what they're doing, it can be hard on the other person’s body. I can handle it, but I want you to know what to do first, okay?" he rubbed the other man’s wrist with his thumb lightly. "The best way to learn is by doing. So just trust me okay? I won't hurt you." He gave the other’s arm a tug, trying to pull him back to the bed.

Hiyoshi looked back at him warily but allowed Akaya to pull him to the bed. He didn’t sit back down, instead he crossed his arms over his chest and looked grouchily down at Akaya as he confessed, “Fine, I’m nervous. Happy?”

"That's ok," Akaya said with a big smile and stood to wrap his arms around his boyfriend. "It's ok, we'll go slow," he said softly and kissed Hiyoshi slowly to show his point. "I love you, Wakashi, and I really wanna do this with you. I'm nervous too." He brought the other man’s hand up to his chest to let him feel how his heart was racing.

Damn it. Hiyoshi couldn’t maintain his grouchy composure when Akaya said that. His body immediately lightening and the corners of his mouth pulled up into the smallest of smiles. Feeling his heart, indeed racing, under his palm, the mushroom boy knew he’d been beat. Giving up, he leaned into his boyfriend’s chest. “What do you have to be nervous about, brat?” He asked softly, “Aren’t you an old pro at this?” That thought had never bothered him quite as much as it did now.

"Just cause I know what I'm doing doesn't mean I'm not nervous about doing it with the guy I love..." Akaya blushed and looked away. His senpai were right, it really did get easier to say after the first time. He put his foot behind Hiyoshi’s subtly and pushed him back onto the bed, then crawled on top of him with a little smirk.

Hiyoshi fell purposely back onto the bed, and watched amused as his boyfriend crawled over him. “I guess you do have a certain reputation to maintain, having called yourself an authority on this. I better not be disappointed,” he teased. Somehow knowing that Akaya was nervous too helped a lot, and just seeing his brat’s devilish smirk on top of him was getting him excited which lessened the nerves.

Akaya leaned down to kiss his boyfriend lightly and rolled his hips down against him slowly. He would do this right and make it something they never forgot. He braced himself on one elbow and used his free hand to run down Hiyoshi’s side and slip up under his shirt. This was what he'd been waiting for, time for just the two of them. No brothers, no parents, no senpai and no----the door opened and he groaned---Sanada...

Sanada was already in a bad mood this week, then he waited for 30 minutes and his pupil never showed up. There were only two places Hiyoshi would be and he wasn't in his room, so that left only Akaya’s. Sanada opened the door and walked in without so much as a knock because frankly he was too pissed off to care. He wasn't mad at Hiyoshi, but the younger boy had just decided to skip at one of the worst possible times. Finding the two together on the bed wasn't even enough to discourage him or disgust him right now. "Apparently you're too occupied to come to practice," he growled quietly.

When Akaya pulled away from the kiss, Hiyoshi went to follow him when he heard Sanada’s voice in the room. “Shit,” he cursed as he fell back on to the bed again. Sanada always had the worst timing. Practice? But classes were… oops. After Akaya’s text earlier, he’d completely forgotten about Kendo training with Sanada. “Sorry, Sanada-san. I was… distracted.” He was surprised he wasn’t freaking out over Sanada catching them in bed… again, maybe because he was more annoyed at the moment. Either way, he started to sit up, gently pushing Akaya to the side. They both knew better than to make Sanada-san wait when he used that tone of voice.

"Fukubuchou, I--I'm sorry, it's my fault," Akaya said sounding very apologetic and a bit scared. He knew that voice better than anyone, "I-if you're going to punish anyone it should be me."

Sanada crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the two. He was not in the mood for this. "Hiyoshi, if you miss practice again without telling me then I will cease to work with you. Akaya, unless you've done something warranting punishment, stop being ridiculous."

Looking over at Akaya while facing away from Sanada, Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “I’ll be there in a minute.” He gave Akaya an apologetic look as he got off the bed. He was actually proud of how well he was handling the situation. He just wasn’t so sure if it was a good thing or bad thing he was getting used to Sanada seeing them together in intimate situations.

Accepting the answer, Sanada turned on his heel and walked out to wait for Hiyoshi in the hallway. Better late than never.

Akaya groaned and tried to figure out which god he'd pissed off to make his luck so bad. "I guess I'll see you later then?" he asked and rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes followed his boyfriend around the room.

Hiyoshi finished gathering some things he would need and straightened his clothes before walking back over to the bed. “Sorry.” He swooped down to capture his lips in a kiss; melding their lips together for one hot moment. Leaning back, he ran a hand once through his brat’s curls. “I’ll be back later.” With a regretful look, he turned around and walked out the door to join Sanada.

The kiss was enough to make his heart race and Akaya’s body ached for his boyfriend who'd just walked out. He hung his head then reached down under his bed to pull out his favorite, very graphic, yaoi manga. "I guess it's just you and me..." he mumbled and walked over to lock the door.


	19. Chapter 19

Hiyoshi had been with his fraternity for four hours. A meeting was held first which lasted over an hour and then they had worked out and sparred in the mat room. It had been Hiyoshi’s first hand to hand sparring session since before break and it felt really good to be healthy and let loose against other experienced martial artists. As one of the officers, at the end of the session, he had been roped into the clean and lock up.

About an hour previous, he’d started a text to Akaya letting him know he’d be late getting back, but while in the middle of texting, one of his newer fraternity brothers had asked if he was texting his girlfriend. A few other members had then proceeded to tease him about being well trained. The thought made him face fault. Wasn’t it normal to tell your girlfriend/boyfriend that you were going to be late coming home? Ugh. Maybe that did sound kind of pathetic. With a glare at his fraternity brothers, which efficiently shut them up, he stubbornly proved them wrong by putting his cell phone away without pressing the send button.

Since his brother had left, Akaya had been acting clingier than normal. It wasn’t terribly annoying, but the martial artist needed to find a way to put his boyfriend’s mind at ease. He couldn’t promise him anything since he hated to make promises he wasn’t sure if he could keep, but there had to be another way to make him forget about what his meddling brother had told him. It also didn’t help that they’d now tried to sleep together a total of four times, each time having been interrupted. Even Hiyoshi was getting frustrated at this point, and it had shown clearly on his face when he’d almost thrown a shurinkan at the fraternity member who’d shown up at his door at the wrong time.

With a sigh, he made his way to the broom closet. Once he was done sweeping up the mats he would only need to stop by the locker room to change and take a shower, then he could finally go home.

Akaya wasn't worried. Akaya didn't worry. Especially not about his boyfriend who always texted him when he was going to be late. He didn't worry even though Hiyoshi was already an hour late coming home and there was still no text. Pacing back and forth in his room wasn't a sign he was worried, he was just… frustrated. Yeah, that was it.

They'd been trying to sleep together for what felt like forever now, but every time something had to interrupt them. He'd almost gone demon mode when the unsuspecting martial arts guy walked in. He was tempted to throw both their phones out the window and barricade the doors to maybe give them a moment of peace, but he knew somehow someone would find a way to stop them. They'd probably repel off the roof and break through his window or something.

When the clock said Hiyoshi was an hour and a half late, he abruptly stopped pacing and frowned. He wasn't going to be a good little house wife anymore, he was going to go find his boyfriend and kick his ass for not texting or calling. He patted the ever present tube of lube in his pocket that he had started carrying after the first two interruptions in hope they could speed up the process to lessen distractions (obviously his plan had yet to work), then headed out the door.

The frustrated and sexually deprived curly haired demon nearly slammed the door shut behind him as he headed off toward his boyfriend’s little club thing with a look of determination. He was not going to let Wakashi off the hook this time. How dare he not even text him! He stomped through the doors of the gym and started looking for the right room until he found his boyfriend, alone, sweeping, and felt a wave of relief--err anger, wash over him. He quickly took off his shoes, stepped onto the mat, and patted over to him, his bare feet nearly silent on the mats.

”You didn't text me," he finally said, keeping his voice low, feeling the room warranted it, as he looked his boyfriend over. He'd seen Hiyoshi in a gi before, but he definitely never got tired of the sight, especially when he could still see a light sheen of sweat glistening on the other man’s body.

Hiyoshi hadn’t bothered to look up when he heard someone enter the room, figuring it was a member who’d forgotten something. Hearing Akaya’s voice, he whirled around to face him, taking in his rigid stance and glare. Trying to hide his surprise, he went back to sweeping. “I was busy.” Even he had to admit it was a lame excuse, letting his fraternity brother’s teasing get to him. “Then I got roped into doing the clean up.”

"You still could have let me know you were going to be late," Akaya grumbled and looked back as the heavy door of the room slowly clicked closed. He turned back to look around the room as he got closer to his boyfriend, stopping just in arms reach. "So, this is where you spend so much time, huh?"

Hiyoshi deliberated whether he should feel guilty or annoyed at Akaya’s grumblings but decided just to let it go. “Yeah, it’s not much, but it’s spacious enough and the mats are new.” The room they had in the gym was a good medium size. The walls were bare and the blue mats only had a few marks on them. Like his dojo at home and the lake on campus, it was one of his favorite spots to come and de-stress.

"It's not bad," Akaya mumbled and rocked back on his heels, enjoying the way his feet sank in just slightly. "So... Everyone else is gone for the day?" He hadn't seen anyone else, and there was obviously no one in there besides the two of them. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and tried to keep the smile off his face when he realized they were finally alone, for real this time. He stuck his hand back in his pocket to turn off his phone though, just in case.

Hiyoshi gave him an odd look. “Yeah, they just gave me my own key to the room. Everyone else left about a half hour ago. I have to lock it up when I’m done.” This conversation was tedious. Why was Akaya even asking? He usually didn’t care about rooms or other people. Oh well, maybe he was just bored. “I’ll be done in second. Then we can go home.” He finished the sweeping and put the broom away. “Why are you here anyway? It’s not like I wouldn’t have come home eventually.”

"I got bored," Akaya lied flatly and looked away to hide the slight blush that crept onto his cheeks, though his mind was ticking. Hiyoshi had the key. Everyone else was gone. Would his boyfriend hit him for making a move on him there? Probably, but he was pretty sure it would be worth it. "Hey, Wakashi, close your eyes for a sec," he said, deciding he would regret it if he missed the opportunity before him.

“Why?” was Hiyoshi’s immediate confused and somewhat guarded response. Honestly, who in their right mind just shut there eyes and lowered their defenses in front of a chibi demon?

"Just do it," the chibi demon grumbled and frowned at his boyfriend. His little plan wasn't going to work if Hiyoshi was that suspicious of him already.

Okay, apparently he was that person. “Fine, brat, but remember this is my territory and I can pin you down anytime I want.” Actually, that sounded like fun, but for now, Hiyoshi would be a good boyfriend and do what the brat asked. He closed his eyes and waited; his other senses on alert just in case.

"I know, I know." Akaya stepped forward slowly with a little smirk and pressed his lips to Hiyoshi’s. He brought his arms around the other man’s hips and hesitantly pulled him close, hoping he didn't get his ass kicked for this, as kinky as that would be.

Hiyoshi’s lips automatically responded to the kiss as he was pulled against the other’s warm body. It’d been over a week since they last had any decent alone time, other than sleeping, and he hated to admit it, but even he was starting to feel a bit desperate. Too bad he had to stop it. Not able to pull back much with the grip Akaya had on him, he said between kisses, “Akaya, they just gave me the key to this room. I’m not about to abuse my new status by taking advantage of it on the first day. This can wait till we get home.”

Akaya could have screamed in frustration. "Wakashi," he said, his voice already taking on the little husky raspy-ness it always seemed to get around Hiyoshi. Though, this time, it had a little pleading tone to it as well, "No one will know, and no one will interrupt us here." He rested his forehead against his boyfriend’s and closed his eyes, "please?"

Looking at his boyfriend’s closed eyes, Hiyoshi sighed. One of his hands came up to trace Akaya’s cheek, a thumb running over his bottom lip. “You seriously want to do that here?” he looked around the room, only finding reasons why he should say no. The fact that he was even considering it was ludicrous.

"I don't care where we are," Akaya said honestly and brought his tongue out to touch Hiyoshi’s thumb lightly, "As long as it's with you..." He opened his eyes to meet his boyfriend’s and pulled the thumb into his mouth to suck at it lightly.

Damn it. The way his brat was asking, the tone in his voice, it made it impossible to refuse him anything. Just the attention his thumb was receiving was already making his eyes darken with repressed desire. “I hope you realize that everything you are doing right now is not affecting me in the slightest,” he chided, more to convince himself than the brat in front of him, “I can still say no.”

"I know," Akaya said softly and leaned back a bit to take Hiyoshi’s middle finger into his mouth this time. He teased the tip of it with his tongue then took it all the way into his mouth, teasing it with little brushes of his tongue as his hands slid down the other man’s hips to rest on his rear.

Shit. Why did the brat have to be such an annoying yet sexy pest? He couldn’t take his eyes off of him, mesmerized by what he was doing to his hand. Voice growing heavy, he continued, “And I also hope you know that this is not affecting my judgment in the least…”

Finally releasing the digit, Akaya moved forward slowly to run his tongue over Hiyoshi neck lightly, taking in the salty taste of sweat and the familiar taste of Hiyoshi himself while one of his hands came up to interlace with the hand he'd just been teasing. "Of course it isn't..." he smiled and nipped at the pale skin lightly.

Fuck. Hiyoshi’s head inclined to the side to give Akaya better access to his neck. He couldn’t lie to himself about this. He damned well knew he wanted it, too. “Stupid… manipulative… idiotic… chibi… demon…” His mumblings grew faint and his will to say no was diminishing by the second. Oh, hell. Screw responsibility. He finally relented in a breathy whisper. “Fine, brat. Just do it already and get it over with.”

That was all he needed to hear. Akaya moved his head down to nip at Hiyoshi’s collar bone while his free hand moved to rub at the front of the other mans gi slowly and teasingly, the words still burning in his ears. "'m not a brat," he whispered softly and gave the hand held in his a light reassuring squeeze.

“Yes, you are,” Hiyoshi returned as casually as possible, but it actually came out as more of a restrained moan. The normalcy of the words helped him to relax as he leaned unconsciously towards Akaya’s teasing touch.

Akaya smiled a bit more and moved his hand away from the front of Hiyoshi’s gi to try and get it off of him. He fiddled with it for a moment then pulled away a bit to look down at it. "Eh... how does..." he mumbled and moved his hand around to see if there was a tie anywhere since there was no zipper or button or any hint of how the pants even stayed up in the first place.

Hiyoshi chuckled, amused. “Hmm… For someone who likes to stare at me while I’m undressing, I would have thought you knew how to do this by now.” Instead of reaching for the tie on his own pants, he reached for Akaya’s, cupping him through the fabric and rubbing his thumb over denim before swiftly and easily undoing the button and zipper. His hand traveled upward then to tease at exposed flesh as he lifted Akaya’s shirt up and over his head.

Akaya glared at him for a moment, but then Hiyoshi’s hand found his clothed erection and any retort died in his throat. He let the other man tug off his shirt, then, finding the knots needed to get the stupid gi pants off, he tugged. The fabric pooled around his boyfriend’s feet. "There," he said triumphantly and slid the top off the other man’s shoulders as well, leaving it to pool on the mat with the pants.

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow as he stood there bare with all his clothes lying at his feet. He had undressed and been undressed in front of Akaya many times, but still some shyness usually went along with it. Maybe it was because they were in a dojo, his element, that he felt no such feelings. He stood there with a smirk on his face, in all his arrogant and proud glory. His boyfriend’s look as he ogled him only adding to smug satisfaction. “So, Akaya…” He didn’t move to touch his boyfriend, waiting for him to come to him. “Are you just going to leave me here waiting?”

The demon smirk was back and predatory. "Lie down," he murmured huskily and pulled the lube out of his pocket before pulling off his pants and boxer-briefs and tossing them aside. He let his eyes continue to wander over his boyfriend’s toned and exquisite form. He'd been waiting for this for far too long.

His boyfriend’s look and voice only managed to excite the martial artist more. “Make me.” He countered back, his voice becoming rough with desire, but there was no way he was going down without a fight. His smile turned feral as he waited to see what Akaya would do.

Walking over slowly, Akaya set his hands on Hiyoshi’s shoulders, then subtly slipped his foot back behind his boyfriend’s and pushed his shoulder with one hand while the other went to help break the other man’s fall, even though he knew Hiyoshi could break it himself just fine. The result was him sitting triumphantly on his boyfriend’s middle with a big smirk. "Just because I don't know martial arts, doesn't mean I'm completely hopeless."

Hiyoshi reached up to grab at the back of his boyfriend’s neck, dragging him down towards him. “Do you really think I’d be with you if you were?” he asked seriously. “In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t care for the weak.” He leaned up to nip at his lips once before flipping them over, the mats working well to his advantage. With his free hand, he reached down to massage the inside of Akaya’s thigh. “And I thought I was the one who was supposed to spread his legs.”

Part of him wanted to give Hiyoshi the lube Akaya still held tightly in his hand and say 'Take me now!' but he wasn't about to roll over like that. He was topping this time. Maybe he'd let the other man next time. He groaned at the light massaging and looked up at Hiyoshi hungrily, "Mmnn... Nice try Wakashi, but..." he flipped them again and began stroking and teasing his boyfriend mercilessly while he slowly started sinking lower and lower until his mouth hovered near the other man’s erection, "this time we play by my rules." With that, he took the man into his mouth completely, to hopefully silence any arguments the other had.

A hot wet mouth encompassed him and all reasoning disappeared. Hiyoshi had almost forgotten. This was Akaya’s game, and though Hiyoshi may put on a good front, he had no hopes of winning today. “Ahh… Akaya…” His head tilted back, but his hand never left that head of hair he adored, fingers twirling in dark curls.

Akaya nearly purred around the other man as his hands worked on opening the little tube. It hadn't been used in almost three months and was a little harder than normal. But once he had it open, he coated his fingers in the cold gel. He started bobbing his head, sucking hard and tongue working diligently to drive all conscious thought from his boyfriend so he wouldn't get nervous.

As Akaya felt the gel on his fingers get to a much more bearable temperature, he slowly rubbed a finger over the other man’s entrance. He massaged it carefully, trying to coax the muscles into relaxing, his mouth never pausing in its attention.

Hiyoshi had known what was coming next and tried to mentally prepare himself for it, but apparently it hadn’t been enough to prepare his body for a touch completely unfamiliar to it. He tensed, trying to get his breathing under control, the pleasuring distraction only half working as his mind tried to separate itself in two. He tightened his hand in Akaya’s hair while the other went to cover his eyes which were starting to burn for some unknown reason.

Akaya paused in his motions and gave the other man’s tip one last lick before looking at him carefully, "Wakashi... Hey... Look at me..." He didn't move his hand away from between the other boy’s legs because he didn't want to lose what little progress he'd made in relaxing the other man, but he did move up to look down at him.

Hiyoshi’s brain finally stopped for a moment at Akaya’s call. There was wetness at the corners of his eyes. How had that happened? He didn’t want Akaya to see. He pulled Akaya down to kiss him, the faint taste of himself still lingering as he twined his tongue desperately with his brat’s, trying to distract both himself and Akaya. “Keep going,” he finally said, not sure why this was so hard for him.

Akaya groaned quietly and nodded a little as he pulled away from the kiss. "Alright... Just relax, okay? If you want me to stop, just tell me and I will..." Slowly, he pressed the tip of his finger inside, the lube making it a bit easier despite how tight Hiyoshi was. He noticed the tears in his boyfriend’s eyes and smiled softly, "I love you..."

That helped. “We’re not stopping.” Hiyoshi commanded stubbornly, trying to relax as instructed. He needed to get over his stupid emotional hang-ups. He wasn’t even sure what they were anymore. Male pride? Fear of Akaya leaving him once he got what he wanted? At this point it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they both wanted this. Though the burning sensation in his eyes didn’t completely go away, he was able open his eyes and look at Akaya sincerely, “I want this.”

Smiling back, Hiyoshi nodded again before slipping in his finger all the way to the last knuckle. He moved the tip lightly, rubbing at the inside wall of his boyfriend, trying to urge him to relax a bit more. As it was, his finger was trapped. "You really are a tightass," he teased quietly and kissed Hiyoshi again, in hopes of distracting him.

Kissing was the best distraction; Hiyoshi loved Akaya’s lips and what they did to him. Made him forget his worries and focused his world on just the two of them. The sensation of a finger in him was somewhat unsettling, but not altogether terrible. Deciding he could get used to it, he forced himself to relax more. “I’ve been called worse,” he teased back and breathed out slowly, letting a small smile appear on his face.

As the other boy relaxed around him, Akaya moved the finger in and out a few times before slowly beginning to add another finger. He did it slowly to minimize the discomfort, but knew from experience that there was no way to completely get rid of it. "I'm sure you have," he chuckled quietly and licked at Hiyoshi’s neck and adams apple.

Hiyoshi began to tense up again when the addition of another finger was added, but quickly reminded his body to calm down. He just needed to keep reminding himself that he wanted this and that it was Akaya who was doing it. “In fact… I think--I’ve been called worse by you… many times” he chucked, remembering their first couple encounters, “Brat.”

"Mushroom head," Akaya responded and smiled wide as he finally got the second finger in all the way. Almost there. He adjusted the angle of his hand a little, pushing the fingers even deeper before looking down at Hiyoshi, "You want to feel something amazing?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer, curled his fingers up to prod expertly at his boyfriend’s prostate.

A choked, inarticulate cry escaped him and Hiyoshi’s hips involuntarily bucked up. He couldn’t even describe what that felt like, and was a bit shaken after it. He’d known about the prostate on a clinical level, but he’d never known… wow. The process of sex didn’t sound any easier, but it certainly seemed more appealing. He looked up at Akaya with wide, slightly unfocused eyes. “You’re a bastard, you know that?”

"Nuh-uh, my parents were married when they had me," Akaya teased with a little grin. "I'm guessing you liked that, huh?" he sat back on his knees between Hiyoshi’s legs and used both hands to help him insert a third finger even slower than he'd inserted the second.

“You’re still a bastard.” Hiyoshi frowned when he realized Akaya had moved away from him. He couldn’t feel him anymore and didn’t like the sudden feeling of being disconnected from him. Then Akaya began to insert another finger and he groaned in frustration. “Akaya… I’m fine. Just do it.” He knew mentally that it would hurt, but that was fine with him. Physical pain, he could deal with. “I’m not a weak little girl, I’ll be fine.”

Akaya frowned and met Hiyoshi’s eyes. It was going to hurt, quite a bit, and that was exactly what he'd wanted to avoid, but... if that was what Hiyoshi wanted. He swallowed hard and nodded, "Alright..." He used his free hand to apply the lubrication to his erection, straight from the tube and hissed at the cold. He gave himself a couple good strong strokes then pulled out his fingers and leaned over Hiyoshi again, bracing himself on one arm. "Hold onto me, okay? Scratch, bite, do whatever you want. I won't be mad." His heart was pounding in his chest and he was shaking with anticipation. They were finally going to do this.

It was an even odder sensation once the fingers had been removed, almost a sense of loss, and he was relieved when Akaya leaned over him again. Hiyoshi was sure now that this was exactly the way he wanted it. His brat was trembling slightly on top of him, whether from excitement or maybe nerves, he couldn’t tell, but he leaned up to kiss him all the same. “Trust me, when I get around to fucking you, I will NOT be gentle.”

Akaya chuckled and nodded. "Good," he said and positioned himself at Hiyoshi’s entrance then took a deep breath and met Hiyoshi’s eyes before pushing just the tip inside. He couldn't hold back the quiet groan, because he could already feel Hiyoshi clamping down around him.

Hiyoshi tightened instinctively as his prepared entrance was penetrated by something much thicker and hotter. After a heartbeat though, hearing Akaya above him, he tried to breathe as he opened himself up to his brat. Little by little, that hard thickness worked its way into him, his body alternately gripping and relaxing with each forward movement. It hurt, yes, a lot, and he could feel the wetness on his eyes, but it was a pain he accepted full heartedly. He bit at his lower lip, trying to contain the pained noises from escaping, not wanting Akaya to feel guiltily or stop. Wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, he didn’t even notice how his fingers were digging into his boyfriend’s back.

Akaya smiled despite the pain in his back where Hiyoshi’s nails were cutting into him and rubbed his thumb along just under his boyfriend’s eye, wiping away the tears. "You feel so good," he said softly, trying to distract the other man as he slowly and patiently pressed himself in more.

The martial artist’s body shivered with pain and pleasure as the hot thickness touched his prostate lightly and then his brat was buried deep within him. He opened his pain clouded eyes and chuckled despite it. “Good. At least one of us… is keeping… ah… up… their side of the bargain.” Hiyoshi leaned up to kiss and suck at whatever skin was in reach, his legs widening as he encouraged Akaya on. "It’s enough…” he whispered against Akaya’s neck. It was too much. He needed Akaya to move, needed his brat to stop acting so gentle and patient. “Where is my sexy demon? Nn… Please, Akaya... take me...fuck me... whatever the hell… it is you plan on doing..."

Akaya slid one hand along Hiyoshi’s thigh, and then lifted the limb up over his shoulder, allowing him to push in that much further and at a different angle. It would allow him to press right into his target with deadly accuracy. Sexy demon? He liked the sound of that. He also loved the way Hiyoshi was talking to him. He could definitely get used to it. "Fine, but it's not my fault if you can't walk tomorrow." He sat back on his knees more and gripped Hiyoshi’s thigh with one hand as he pulled out almost all the way and pushed back in hard. Without hesitation, he repeated the motion and started to pick up a medium pace.

It hurt like hell, but a well-timed thrust hit that spot again, and he saw stars. Small cries and low moans fell from Hiyoshi’s lips with every thrust. His brain shut down, only able to process the new sensation of intense pleasure mixed with pain, but something was wrong. He wanted, needed to see... “Akaya… Ah! I can’t see you…” He didn’t have the sense of mind to realize how silly and sentimental that sounded.

Smiling despite the light sheen of sweat forming all over his naked body, Akaya moved the other man’s leg off his shoulder and leaned forward again so they were face to face. "That better?" he asked and pressed their lips together before the man could even answer.

Hiyoshi slid his tongue into his boyfriend’s mouth and grabbed at his head of curls to keep him there. Trying to match the pace, he began rocking back against him, which caused a groan to add to the list of noises he was already making. “Much… better...” Their lips met again, briefly, before Hiyoshi moved down to taste sweat-dampened skin. Nibbling, sucking, licking, biting, anything to keep from becoming overwhelmed.

Akaya smiled as Hiyoshi started moving with him. He learned quickly apparently. The little kisses and nips drew a moan from him, "Wrap your legs around my waist," he instructed huskily and picked up his pace so that the quiet room was filled with the sound of their bare flesh slapping together and the little grunts that each motion was drawing from him. Maybe he was out of shape? His muscles were already burning from effort and he could hear the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like fukubuchou yell 'Tarundoru.'

Hiyoshi did as told, trusting him with everything he had to give. He thought he was going to be driven mad with sensation. His swollen member was trapped between their sweat-slicked bodies and crying for attention with every move they made, but it was starting to worry him that Akaya wasn’t saying much or making much noise at all. Trying to force himself to some level of awareness, he uttered out between moans, brain too in shambles to be tactful, “I… Nn… Tell me you’re enjoying this.”

Akaya blinked and faltered in his pace for a moment before picking it back up again. "Of course I'm enjoying this," he said breathily. He was nearly panting and his whole body quivered. Maybe his boyfriend liked dirty talk? "You feel amazing Wakashi--so tight and warm---and you look so sexy," he whispered huskily and nipped Hiyoshi’s ear, "I love you so much..."

Eyes narrowed and Hiyoshi roughly pulled Akaya’s head down to make their eyes meet, their pace slowing almost painfully. “I don’t need your lines or comfort. I need to know that you’re happy. There’s no point to us doing this if you’re not.” There might have been a thousand other better ways to say it, but he couldn’t think of them. Akaya may not understand exactly how much he cared for him since he had a hard time expressing it with words, but at least through his actions, he wanted him to understand.

As Hiyoshi made him look at him, Akaya slowed, then finally stopped moving completely to look at him, his eyes wide in shock. "I--eh?" he blinked a couple times. A smile broke out across his face and he used the time to catch his breath. "Of course I'm happy, why would you think I'm not?" he asked softly, his relief and happiness obvious in his voice.

Hiyoshi gave him an answering smile; that was all he needed to hear. His hand reached out to cup Akaya’s cheek, his hair at the base was already dripping with exertion. “Just wanted to make sure.” He placed his lips simply on the other’s then smirked, “Now finish what you started since I refuse to lower myself to begging.” He squeezed his legs around him once for emphasis.

Akaya laughed a little and nodded. "Yes, sir," he started thrusting again, this time going hard and strong from the start. Each movement sent a burning sensation up his legs and through his back and his arms trembled with the effort of holding himself up, but it felt too good for him to care.

Once again, Hiyoshi was lost to all of the sensations. His body automatically now intercepting Akaya’s thrusts and willing him to return them. One arm grabbed at Akaya as an anchor. “I don’t know how much longer I can last,” he gasped out between thrusts. His neglected erection wanted attention desperately, and not able to take the pressure anymore, he reached between their bodies to stroke himself in time with Akaya’s thrusts. He moaned hard and loud at the added contact.

There was a new dark mark at the base of Hiyoshi’s neck where Akaya had been sucking, and he moaned. "Then just let yourself go," he murmured huskily and snuck one of his hands between them to replace Hiyoshi’s hand and stroke his boyfriend hard and in perfect time with his thrusts, even though they were beginning to lose their rhythm and become more desperate.

Hiyoshi’s eyes rolled back and his vision went askew at a particularly well aimed thrust and Akaya’s hand took over. He could no longer tell if he was even responding as Akaya drove his mind into a state of oblivion. The sounds they were making sounded like it was coming from somewhere else and he couldn’t even tell who was making them. One hand was still raking through Akaya’s hair while the other was holding and clinging to Akaya wherever he could reach him, his name pouring out of his mouth like a slow whispered mantra.

The sound of his name on the other man’s lips was intoxicating. Before Akaya realized it, his hand was coated with his boyfriend’s release. The warm enclosure clamped down around him and his thrusts abruptly came to a halt as his body went rigid. A loud cry was ripped from his throat as he spilled himself in Hiyoshi. Even though he'd slept with countless people, nothing ever felt quite like it did with Hiyoshi.

Sweating and panting, Hiyoshi felt groggy as he registered the weight of his boyfriend who had collapsed on top of him. No words were needed as his arms automatically came around him, gently stoking his hair and running his hand slowly and gently up and down his back. Words could not even begin to describe how he was feeling or what had just happened. His face turned to the side, nuzzling the dark head resting on his shoulder, his body still humming in satisfaction.

It was all Akaya could do to catch his breath and try to soothe his racing heart. After what felt like an eternity, he pushed himself up just enough to kiss Hiyoshi slowly and lazily. "Nn... You okay?" he asked quietly and smiled down at his lover, his eyes glowing with happiness and excitement.

Hiyoshi replied to the question with a small satisfied smile. He tugged his boyfriend forward for another light kiss, and then dragged his lips across the other’s face to kiss lazily at his cheeks, nose, and anywhere else he could reach.

Akaya tried not to giggle at all of the small kisses. He nuzzled Hiyoshi’s cheek and moved his lips against the other man’s ear as he whispered, "and I'm not a brat."

Hiyoshi let out a loud laugh at that, his chest shaking with mirth, making Akaya wobble on top of him. “You’ll always be my brat,” he said happily in a carefree voice, only noticing a moment later the ramifications of his words. But he meant them, and wasn’t willing to take them back. Even if they would someday separate, to him, Akaya would always be his brat.

Akaya smiled even wider and crushed their lips together in a hungry but quick kiss. "And you'll always be my favorite mushroom-head." He touched his nose to Hiyoshi’s and slowly pulled out of him, groaning a little as he did.

Hiyoshi’s smile was short lived as he winced when Akaya pulled out of him. It ached in an odd way, somehow leaving him feeling empty. He tried to move his legs, but found they were very stiff and it hurt to move them. The stickiness, he noticed, was starting to get to him too. Grimacing, he said with disgust, “I think I know what you meant about not being able to move… This is the part where I start glaring at you right?” Though he was still way too content to actually do so.

"No, this is the part where I pick you up and take you to the shower. Then you can get changed and we can go back to our room and go to bed." He wasn't sure whose room he was talking about, but both his room and Hiyoshi’s were their rooms. Their own little sanctuaries.

“You are NOT picking me up! I can walk just fine…” As he said so, the stubborn boy started to move, but his legs cramped and his muscles ached in places he’d never felt before, “…with maybe a little help.” Yeah, the glaring option sounded good.

Akaya stood in all of his naked glory then crouched down next to his boyfriend to pick him up bridal style. "I'm going to carry you, so get over it," he mumbled stubbornly and started toward the door, not caring at all that they were naked.

Hiyoshi’s eyes bugged out as he was scooped up into a pair of strong arms and carried towards the door. “KIRIHARA AKAYA! Put me down now!!! I am not a damn woman!” They were leaving? Like this??? He looked back over at the mats quickly to make sure there was no evidence of there previous activities. His gi looked like it had taken most of the damage. “My clothes are still in here idiot, and I need to clean and lock up!”

Akaya winced as his boyfriend shrieked in his ear. "Well you sound like a damn woman Just shut up, okay? I'll finish up the cleaning while you're in the shower and I'll bring your clothes.” He growled and glared at Hiyoshi stubbornly.

Ugh… the tired mushroom-headed boy didn’t have the energy for this right now. He crossed his arms and grumbled under his breath, but relaxed in his boyfriend’s arms and allowed himself to be carried into the locker room. They would never speak of this again, he vowed.

Once in the locker room, Akaya walked directly to the shower and turned one on warm before setting his boyfriend on his feet slowly. "You okay to stand?" he asked gently and stayed close to support Hiyoshi, just in case.

How was it that Akaya could make him feel like glowering and smiling at the same time? “Of course,” he said curtly, though he was tempted to say no since in all honesty he didn’t want Akaya to leave.

"Alright, I'm gonna go clean up and get our clothes," the chibi demon smiled, "You clean up and I'll be back soon." He started to walk out of the shower then paused to look over his shoulder at Hiyoshi, "Oh, and make sure to open yourself up and let everything drain out," he smiled big and childishly, "Or you're going to have a nasty surprise later."

Hiyoshi winced again and blushed. Was Akaya embarrassing him on purpose? Probably. Alone in the shower, he had the opportunity to realize just how uncomfortable he was. The stickiness sliding down his chest and his legs, not to mention the ache that was very apparent whenever he moved or even breathed, was sickening. He braced himself against the shower wall and tried to clean himself up the best he could while waiting for Akaya to come back.

Other than the soreness, nothing felt any different. The sex had been amazing, yes. More than Hiyoshi had expected, but he didn’t feel any major change. He’d always heard from others that people in relationships changed after sex. It had been one of his major concerns since he didn’t want to lose Akaya if the sex changed them. However, he had a feeling that they would be okay. Their relationship had never been about the sex, he had seen to that. He knew that Akaya for all of his whining and pleading understood that. He hoped his boyfriend didn’t take too long coming back.

Akaya walked back into the mat room and picked up their clothes, then finished up the cleaning that was left. Pulling Hiyoshi’s keys out of the pocket in his gi, he locked the door to the room then carried the clothes close to his chest, trudging back to the locker room. He was happy. The happiest he'd been in a long time and he couldn't wait to curl up with his boyfriend.

Walking back into the locker room, he dropped the clothes on the bench before walking into the shower. "Did ya miss me?" he asked with a big lopsided grin. "Damn you look sexy..." he teased, even though it was true, and walked up to wrap his arms around his boyfriend.

“Shut up,” Hiyoshi hissed, though it had no real venom in it as he leaned into his boyfriend’s embrace. “I was just getting sick of leaning on a cold wall.” It felt good to both hold and be held by Akaya. It was such a satisfying feeling, standing like this with him, holding each other under the warm water, but he knew there was somewhere else he’d rather be. “Mmm… Let’s go home.”


	20. Chapter 20

The plans were set. He could do this. He was resolved to do this. It couldn’t be that hard to go the whole day being nice to his brat… err… boyfriend. He wouldn’t call him names, and he would only do and say things that would make Akaya happy. Seriously, as a few people pointed out, idiot was pretty easy to please so this shouldn’t be that hard. For their anniversary, Hiyoshi was determined to be the perfect boyfriend.

Akaya was currently asleep, completely on top of him, making it difficult to fulfill his first deed of the day. He moved his slightly deadened arms out from underneath him, and slowly rubbed his back while gently pushing him off. Akaya was actually a light sleeper who always woke up if there was too much movement in the room. He’d found when needing to get up in the morning before him, it was better to quietly tell Akaya rather than wake him up accidently.

Okay, time to be nice. Hiyoshi whispered gently in his ear, “I need to get up, br--baby.” His eyes crossed slightly at that. His first words of the day, and he already almost screwed up. Maybe this would be harder than he thought…

Akaya felt his pillow moving under him and furrowed his brow with a little groan. Just as he was about to ask what the hell Hiyoshi was moving around for, his boyfriend whispered to him. He groaned and rolled off of Hiyoshi before his eyes cracked open. "Did you just call me baby?" he murmured curiously.

Blushing slightly, Hiyoshi decided to ignore the question. “I’ll be right back, go back to sleep.” He leaned down to brush his lips against Akaya’s before getting out of bed to quickly dress and make his way to the kitchen.

After a long mental debate with himself, he’d finally gotten up the nerve to call Akaya’s mother yesterday to find out his favorite breakfast foods. He’d met her and the rest of Akaya’s family for two days over the break, and the impression he’d received had not been an altogether bad one. They were very different from his family. Though… he could have sworn at times it seemed as if they were taking turns hitting on him. Akaya’s mother, sister, …and his father. He cringed at the memory. Thankfully, the phone conversation had ended up being mostly painless if not slightly disturbing.

“You want to make him breakfast? Aren't you sweet! You know he can't cook to save his life, well let's see… He likes chocopan and riceballs, not together. Though he does really like anything sweet, French toast, pancakes with lots of strawberries or sugar on top, oh but he doesn't like anything that still has eyeballs, it freaks him out and he runs away screaming. Hmm… what else? Make sure he drinks something with his meal because he always eats too fast and chokes on something. Orange juice and water are good, sports drinks too, but not pocari sweat, he hates that. Oh, he hates milk too. I'm rambling again, aren't I? Heehee, silly me, well anyway Waka-chan, good luck. I'm sure he'll be very excited. Call me back anytime love, bye!”

Yes, disturbing. Thankfully, unlike his boyfriend, Hiyoshi was not a complete mess in the kitchen and could at least make decent French toast. He’d gone to the local grocery next to campus to get the necessary ingredients and stored them in the communal kitchen. He ended up being somewhat proud of the outcome. The French toast had been disgustingly drenched in strawberries, syrup, and powdered sugar. He’d had to make a few attempts, but the end result wasn’t burnt or soggy. He came back about 45 minutes later with the tray of death sugar and orange juice.

Putting the tray aside for the moment, he walked over to the bed to wake up the brat who was currently sprawled out on the bed in all directions. It was already ten-thirty in the morning, so it should be okay to wake him up. Leaning over him, he smoothed back his tousled mess of curls while calling, “Hey, br—baby, time to wake up.” He winced. He really needed to think of some other excuse for when he almost called him brat.

Akaya’s nose twitched as something that smelled like heaven entered the room. When he felt the other boy kneel down beside him, he cracked one eye open and looked at him curiously. "You smell good," he mumbled and hugged onto his boyfriend to take a deep whiff. Wait, that wasn't what he smelled. He sat up grudgingly and looked around. "What's that--" He looked at Hiyoshi with a raised eyebrow, "Did you call me baby again?"

“Sit up.” Ignoring the question, Hiyoshi went to retrieve the tray of food and placed it on Akaya’s lap. “Breakfast. Eat.” He didn’t know if he could handle whatever look Akaya would give him, so instead he collapsed next to him on the bed face down.

The still half asleep boy sat up and as soon as the tray was in front of him. His eyes lit up like someone had just told him it was Christmas and he stared at the side of Hiyoshi’s head. "Wakashi, you made this for me?! It looks great!!" He leaned over to kiss his boyfriend on the top of the back of his head then mumbled an 'Itadakimasu!!' before attacking the sugary concoction, "It's so good!!!!" he gushed between bites.

Hiyoshi smiled despite himself from his position facing down. Akaya’s reaction and satisfied eating noises told him that he was doing fine so far, which was good encouragement. He turned over so he could peek up at Akaya’s face while he ate. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all.

“When you’re done, give me the tray and then get dressed. Make sure you wear clothes that you don’t care if they get messed up.” He had a long day planned out and they needed to head out soon to stay on schedule.

"Eh?" Akaya blinked and shoved another bite into his mouth. "Where we goin?" he asked curiously and took another bite, only to choke on it. He quickly washed it down with the orange juice and let out a little sigh of relief. How did that always happen?

“Chew, then swallow,” Hiyoshi reminded with a snicker. Damn it! He could hold back his snide remarks if it killed him! He patted his back once. “I’m glad you like it.” Standing up, he made his way to his section of the closet. Akaya’s stuff had slowly but surely been invading his space over the last month, as some of his own clothes were now housed at Akaya’s. “You’ll find out where we’re going when we get there. Do you need to stop by your dorm before we go?”

Something seemed different about Hiyoshi, but Akaya couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Oh uh... No," he muttered and watched his boyfriend suspiciously as he finished his food and got out of bed. He walked over to his little part of the closet and found a pair of shorts and t-shirt that he didn't care much about. It had a large amount of badly written English on it.

“Good.” Hiyoshi finished dressing quickly and checked the time on his watch. They had about a half hour to get there before the place opened. While taking care of the dishes, he started to mentally check off everything they would need for the day. He’d packed mostly everything in a large bag the previous night, but he felt like he’d forgotten something already. Hmm… he went over it in his head again. No, maybe he’d already forgotten something this morning? MORNING! Damn it.

Walking back over to Akaya, who was currently in the middle of getting dressed, he grabbed him abruptly by the arm and pulled him into his planned tender morning kiss. “Good morning,” he said afterword, satisfied. Better late than never. He let go of him and went back to pack the last of what they would need. Slugging the large bag over his shoulder, he turned back, “Ready to go?”

Well now Akaya was positive something was wrong with his boyfriend. He walked up to his mushroom and put a hand on his forehead, making sure he didn't have a fever. Nope, normal. What the hell was wrong then? "Uh… Yeah, I guess," he mumbled and followed his far too chipper boyfriend out of the dorm.

Breakfast: Check

One thing Hiyoshi liked about their relationship. Akaya trusted him enough to just follow him wherever he led and not ask questions, or at least not expect an answer, or maybe he just forgot the question. He’d been trying to think of a new place Akaya and he could enjoy together. The thought had come to him when he’d overheard some members of his fraternity talking about it, but not knowing much about paintball, he looked it up online. At first the idea of putting a gun in Akaya’s hands (real or not) seemed like the dumbest idea in the world, but after looking into it, it looked reasonably safe and fun.

After a twenty minute taxi drive, they arrived at a large building, fairly far away from any others. Paintball wasn’t the most popular sport in Japan, and he didn’t know if Akaya had even heard of it. He asked the taxi to come back in three hours before they got out and made their way to the entrance.

Akaya’s face was plastered to the window the whole drive, much to the chagrin of the cab driver, and his eyes got huge when they arrived in front of the building. "What? Three hours? Then..." If he remembered correctly, this was the paintball place he'd come to back in high school. He looked at Hiyoshi curiously, trying to figure out why his boyfriend was bringing him here when he was almost 100% sure that Hiyoshi was not the paintball type.

It was difficult to gauge whether Akaya was happy or not with this choice of activity. Before entering the building, Hiyoshi tentatively asked, “Is this okay? …We can do something else if you’d like.” Shit, he should have checked further to make sure Akaya liked this kind of thing. Maybe he should have asked Sanada.

When they walked into the building and Akaya saw it was indeed the paintball place, he looked at Hiyoshi with sparkles in his eyes and jumped onto him in a fierce hug. "This is awesome!!!"

Hiyoshi let out a sigh of relief. Good, he hadn’t messed up. His cheeks turned slightly pink at the public show of affection, but as he’d promised himself, he didn’t try to pull away. “Uh… we have an appointment, so we should sign in, br—beautiful.” Ouch. That hadn’t come out good either, but at least it was better than ‘baby’.

Just as Akaya was pulling away, he paused and looked at Hiyoshi with a look that said 'seriously?' "Beautiful?" he repeated sounding rather disbelieving then dragged his boyfriend toward the counter. To Akaya’s surprise, the man was indeed expecting them and outfitted them with the latest gear and threw them out into the area by themselves.

Three hours later…

"That was sooooo cool!!" Akaya said happily and laced his fingers behind his head. He had won of course, but only because he'd done it before. Half way through their three hours, other people joined in and they teamed up to take them down. By the time they walked out, Akaya was covered in bruises and welts, but he was too happy to care.

Hiyoshi grunted his agreement to Akaya’s comment. He was going to be hurting in the morning. Apparently having tiny balls of paint shot at you HURT. He’d had no idea how physical it would be either. The way the terrain had been designed in the building for duck and cover had been a real challenge at times. It had been fun, hunting each other down, trying to calculate where the other would be. Akaya was a natural predator, and Hiyoshi had been trained in stealth for years. In the end, they had matched up pretty evenly, he thought. When more people had arrived, it had been fun to team up as well. Though he couldn’t say it out loud today without breaking his promise to himself, shooting Akaya had been amazingly satisfying at times.

Looking at the clock on the wall, they had about forty-five minutes to get to their next stop if they wanted to stay on schedule. “I brought us both a change of clothes. Let’s get changed so we can go.”

"Eh?" Wow, Hiyoshi had really come prepared. "There's more?" Akaya asked curiously, surprised that they were doing so much in one day when normally their excitement was watching a movie or playing a game back in their room.

Hiyoshi was getting good at ignoring Akaya’s questions. Walking away into the dressing room, he knew that Akaya would follow him. Once there, he searched through the large bag he’d been carrying around to find their extra sets of clothes. He’d specifically packed clothes for Akaya that he’d seem him wear before in public and for tennis practice. “Here.” He handed Akaya his clothes and began dressing himself. “We can get a quick lunch on our way there.” He really didn’t want to say this next sentence… “How about McDonalds?”

Akaya was fairly certain his jaw hit the floor and his eyes bugged out of his head, "EH?! Seriously?!" he said in disbelief as he changed, never once taking his eyes off of Hiyoshi. "Dude, are you sick or something? 'Cause you hate McDonalds..." Maybe aliens had replaced his Wakashi with a new Wakashi or maybe... this was the original Hiyoshi and the other had just been a stand in until the aliens were finished researching on him... Either way, he was really freaked out and not sure whether to be happy or run away screaming.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what the brat was thinking, he knew his boyfriend too well. “No, br-bab-beaut--, fuck… Whatever. It’s the real me and I’m perfectly fine. I just know you like McDonalds so I thought I would offer.” Akaya was still standing there looking shocked. No one else was in the small room, so once he was finished dressing, he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and leaned in close. “Should I not want to do things that make you happy?”

Akaya blinked as arms came around him, then smiled a bit and held Hiyoshi close. He still wasn't completely convinced it was the real Hiyoshi, but he wasn’t going to complain, not when his boyfriend was showering him with so much attention and treating him so nice. "No, I don't mind," he said quietly and kissed him.

Even if acting completely moronic and holding back his usual comments was hard (and he would probably need to purify himself of all the sap by the time the day was over), it was still worth it to see Akaya look at him like that. Hiyoshi ran his hand through the brat’s hair, holding him close for a minute more before breaking away. “Let’s finish cleaning up so we can go then.”

Akaya pulled away and finished dressing. Heading over to the door, he announced like an impatient child, "Alright! I'm ready when you are!"

Paintball: Check

McDonald’s had been what he expected; greasy and noisy. Hiyoshi was nothing if not thorough though, having checked what toys the kids meals had beforehand. Akaya would be disappointed if they went all the way there and the toys sucked. However, the current toys had to be, of all things, the new Dragon Ball Kai figures. He had thought the Mario toys had been embarrassing… It was all he could do not to crawl under the table or run out the doors, let alone keep his mouth shut at the ridiculous noises and show Akaya was putting on in public with his brand new Vegeta toy.

It had to be the best day ever, not only was he out with his boyfriend and getting to have a lot of fun (despite Hiyoshi acting kinda weird), but he got the limited edition Vegeta toy. He looked over at Hiyoshi’s Gohan figure and snickered. "Haha, you got stuck with Gohan," he laughed and made wooshing sounds as Vegeta flew around his drink then landed on the table, his arms crossed over his chest. "Hahaha! Stupid Kakarot’s son!" he said in a mock Vegeta voice while the kids at the next table over looked on jealously.

Hiyoshi could care less about which toy he got, or even if he got one, but Akaya liked it when he did. “Technically, Gohan was a better fighter than Vegeta.” He replied calmly, planted to his chair, trying to pretend he wasn’t planning an escape. “…Are you almost finished with your food?” He could see plain as day that Akaya had barely touched his burgers, but he couldn’t help it. All the loud fussy children were getting to him and he was tired of being out in crowds. He wanted to grab Akaya by the back of the head and drag him home, but the day was not even half over.

Akaya blinked; distracted from his argument over why Vegeta was obviously superior by his boyfriend’s question. He looked down at his burgers, having forgotten he even had them and immediately felt his stomach complain. He set Vegeta down, leaving him to survey over the restaurant in all of his regal Saiyan glory, as he attacked the food. He had it gone in less then 5 minutes and finished off with a loud content burp that earned disapproving looks from all of the mothers in the room and cheers from the kids.

Hiyoshi wanted to bury himself. Why was this idiot his boyfriend again? Why the hell did he put up with these juvenile acts? Now he just felt like slamming his head hard against the table a few times. He’d had no idea that keeping his mouth shut from releasing all his usual sardonic remarks would make him feel so close to suicide.

Eyebrow twitching, with a plastic almost scary smile on his face, Hiyoshi reached across the table to where Akaya had just finished his meal and looked like he was bout to pick up his toy again. He placed a hand over his to stop him. “We still have a few more stops, br-beautiful…” If he didn’t kill himself first, these nickname endearments were going to do it for him. “Let’s go, please?”

Akaya paused and looked at his boyfriend curiously. "Really?" he blinked then smiled from ear to ear. "Ok then, let's go!" he said excitedly and stood, grabbing Vegeta and shoving him in his pocket.

Hiyoshi silently thanked the heavens for easily distracted boyfriends.

McDonalds: Check

It was official; being overly nice all day may do permanent damage to his psyche. He should have thought before hand to not pick so many public places to visit in one day. The next stop on the schedule was Akaya’s favorite arcade in town. It was three stories high and had every type of game known to man (or at least known to Hiyoshi). Akaya could last in there for hours, but they could only stay for about two. Honestly, Hiyoshi was starting to wonder if he would even last for one. All the flashing lights and crowds of teenagers just getting out of school made the place roar with noise and his head twirl in circles. Thankfully, Akaya didn’t make him play too much, seeming content to have him just tag along as a silent supporter, showing off his ‘game prowess’ as you might say. The thought made him snicker silently, a small grin appearing on his face as Akaya won another level of some game he didn’t recognize. At least here he didn’t have to be embarrassed when Akaya acted like a five year old since he just fit in with the crowd.

Akaya hadn't been to the arcade in a long time, in part due to his large amount of games at home, but also because it was expensive. So when Hiyoshi brought him to the arcade, he could have cried. He dragged his boyfriend around to all of his favorite games and showed off by competing against the 'biggest and best' guy at the Dead or Alive 4 game stations and kicking his ass until the guy ran out of 100 yen coins.

After a while, noticing Hiyoshi looked kind of bored, he dragged him over to the DDR pads with an evil little smirk and put a couple coins in before pushing his boyfriend up onto one pad. Climbing up on the other, he selected the song and started it. "Just step on the arrows," he instructed and started moving.

Hiyoshi held back a grin when he was suddenly forced on to a DDR machine. Little did his boyfriend know how many hours he’d been forced to spend with Gakuto in his room with this particular game. He’d said it would be good for their doubles game. He had grumped about it then, thinking Gakuto was just bored and got a laugh out of making him dance, but now he was grateful. He was going to kick Akaya’s ass at a game, FINALLY. Akaya had set it on an easy level. Painlessly and flawlessly he followed the arrows, getting a perfect score. There were few things Hiyoshi claimed mastery of in this world, but full control over his own body and movements with grace and style was one of them.

Akaya stared in amazement, far too captivated by the sight before him to even put up a decent fight at the game. When had Hiyoshi learned to play DDR? How could he be that good?! As soon as the song was over, his jaw hit the floor. A perfect?! "How the hell did you do that?!"

Arrogant Hyotei smirk in place, Hiyoshi explained simply as he got off the machine. “Gakuto was my doubles partner.” Heh, it was fun to surprise his boyfriend every once in a while.

"Eh--damn it..." Akaya knew he had no chance at DDR against a student of Gakuto’s. He'd danced with that boy too much and seen him bent over in far too many positions to know that he was the master of all things flexible and dance like. It was something he knew he couldn't beat so he would just have them play something he could win. "Fine, alright, let's play something else."

Hiyoshi wanted to laugh at Akaya’s competitiveness (especially since that was a trait they shared), and any other day he would have insisted on beating his ass again at a higher level, but today was his day and he would let it slide. “Fine. What do you want to play next?”

"Whack-a-mole!" Akaya said with a little evil grin. "Come on, lets go!" He grabbed his boyfriend’s wrist and dragged him over to the machine with an evil smirk. "Let's see ya win this!"

Hiyoshi looked at Akaya like he was crazy when he was handed a rather large hammer with a big ridiculous red end. Akaya wanted to play this? It seemed like such an adolescent game. All he had to do was hit whatever popped out of the holes, right? “Okay...” Whack-a-mole was going to be a cinch.

Inserting the proper amount of coins for them, the martial artist readied himself. Then they appeared. The most annoying sounding, stupid looking things he’d ever seen or heard in his life. They were a terrible color of yellow-ish brown with huge teeth and enormous googly eyes, the high pitched giggly teasing voices reminiscent of all the girls that used to throw themselves at the tennis team back in middle school. He felt a huge wave of loathing crash over him, the fuckers were going down. With a sneer of hatred on his face, he slammed the huge stupid hammer down on the plastic heads.

Akaya took up his own padded hammer and attacked the goofy looking vermin as they popped up. He smirked as he hit them all perfectly with deadly accuracy. He glanced over at Hiyoshi out of the corner of his eye and smirked, "What's the matter Wakashi? You look frustrated."

The stupid moles were pissing him off, and Akaya wasn’t helping. However, every time he managed to get one it was very satisfying. Too bad he kept missing a majority of them, their movements completely unpredictable, and the ridiculous noises they were making when he missed managed only to heighten his resentment of them. He finally just stopped thinking and whacked at them randomly, actually managing to hit more of them in the process till the game finally ended. He was breathing hard and his eyes were fuming.

"I win!!" Akaya cried happily and looked at their scores before glomping onto Hiyoshi. "Hey, Wakashi, thank you for taking me here!!" he said happily. "Are we going anywhere else?" he asked curiously.

Hiyoshi felt the sudden urge to flip Akaya over onto the ground and leave him there. No, he was not going to demand a rematch and gain back his pride. No, he was not going to throw him across the room. He was going to breathe slowly and… fuck that. He grabbed Akaya’s wrist and dragged him to and up the escalator to the third floor, not caring what anyone around them might think. On the third floor was a small toddler activity area, but it was late afternoon on a week day and completely deserted, perfect. Completely ignoring the questions and comments coming from behind him, he picked Akaya up and threw him into the pokemon ball pit. He made a very satisfying crashing sound and squeak as he hit the pile of multi-colored balls.

Akaya blinked as he was dragged along. "Where are we going Wakashi...?" he asked just before he was thrown into the pokemon ball pit with a little yelp. He popped up out of the balls with a big glare. "Oi! What the hell was that for?!" He growled and grabbed Wakashi’s hand to pull him into the balls with him, an evil little grin plastered on his face.

Akaya looked amusing like that, glaring at him while surrounded by the sea of colorful balls. He really wasn’t that surprised when he got dragged down in after him. With a smirk, he immediately sent a wave of balls at him.

Dodged the balls by ducking under the pool of them, Akaya then popped up in front of Hiyoshi and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders. "Wakashi, I choose you!" he teased and pressed their lips together hungrily.

Huh? Hiyoshi lost his footing and fell backwards into the pit of balls, taking Akaya and his lips with him. His boyfriend was such a brat. He was surprised at first, but then pushed his lips back firmly against Akaya’s. The frustration of holding back all day having built up, he impatiently flipped them over so he was now on top and fervently kissed Akaya hard while pushing him down till they had to have been almost completely buried. Hiyoshi didn’t care, having something else much more appealing to focus on.

Akaya groaned as they sunk into the balls, and once he was on his back, he purred into the kiss and buried a hand in Hiyoshi’s hair, kissing him back with all of his emotions. "Wakashi," he said breathily between kisses, "I love you," he smiled and kissed him again as his hands wandered down his boyfriend’s back to his rear end.

There was warm, almost painful thump in Hiyoshi’s chest at Akaya’s words. Completely swept up in the moment, his mouth started to form a response, “I lo…” when loud high pitched yelps that definitely hadn’t come from Akaya were heard nearby. Breaking off the kiss, he looked up to find two mothers and their young children looking down at them. Shit. This was all Akaya’s fault.

Akaya looked up at the mothers and smiled with a little sweat drop. "Eh heh heh," he laughed and waved a little before pushing Hiyoshi off of him and standing up. "Bye bye!" he said with another little wave and a full amused laugh as he grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and pulled him out of the room quickly. He ran down the hall laughing like a mad man and didn't stop until they were outside. Finally letting go, he bent over and tried to catch his breath between laughs, "D-Did you see their faces? Ahahahaha! It was great!"

‘Great’ Would not have been the word Hiyoshi used to describe it, nor would it even start to depict the amount of embarrassment he was sure would last for years to come over what just happened. He was never going to that arcade ever again. The whole day would be pointless though if he let it get to him now, so he shoved the memory of what just happened to the back of his head and moved on to the next part of his plan. What was it? Oh, yeah. He started walking forward (away from the arcade as quickly as possible) “How does ice cream sound?”

Akaya smiled and trotted along beside Hiyoshi, "Ice cream sounds great!"

Arcade: Check

They walked to the ice cream vendor they always went to near campus. Hiyoshi was socially exhausted but Akaya looked happy. Classes had gotten out not too long ago and it was warm out and a bit packed. They had to wait in line for ten minutes to even place their order. Hiyoshi decided on a simple cone of green tea ice cream then turned to Akaya for his order.

"Uh... Let's see... Hmm..." Akaya looked at the menu for a while with his head tilted to the side, "Uh... Maybe... Oh! Okay, can I get a scoop of chocolate chip, a scoop of cookies and cream, a scoop of cookie dough, and... hmmm... All of that in a waffle cone with sprinkles!" he said happily and pulled out his wallet to pay.

Hiyoshi wanted to bury himself again. After this, Akaya was going to be on a painful sugar high. It would be painful for him, anyway. He took Akaya’s wallet away and paid the cashier with his own, looking at the triple layered confection that was handed to Akaya with dread. “It’s my treat today, br—beautiful.” His eyes went wide as he realized he’d just said that in public. Not wanting to look and see if anyone had heard, he walked away with his ice cream and Akaya’s wallet still in hand, forgetting to take the change.

Akaya blushed a bit as a couple people turned to stare at him and Hiyoshi’s retreating form. "Beautiful," he repeated quietly and put on a little frown as he tried his best to look badass and follow him. "So you wanna sit somewhere and eat or are we going back to the room or something?" he asked as he licked at his tower of ice cream.

“Sit down…” Hiyoshi mumbled. Finding a small bench, he slumped down on to it and licked absently at his ice cream. Damn it, Akaya better appreciate all of the effort this took. “I was thinking of going to the tennis courts after this…”

"Eh? The tennis courts?" Akaya asked curiously and demolished his ice cream cone in record time. "You wanna play a game with me?" He titled his head to the side and sucked the remaining ice cream off of his fingers one by one.

‘That’s just inhuman.’ Hiyoshi thought to himself, still working on his one scoop. “Not really,” Hiyoshi replied honestly with a sneer. “I haven’t played seriously in over four years. I doubt I would be much of a challenge.” And that would piss him off even more than the video games had. “I would say we could play a light game, but I doubt the phrase is even in your vocabulary.”

"Heh heh, Yeah... I'm not good at playing like that," Akaya laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well maybe we can just hit around or something? I promise not to go blood shot or nothing," he leaned against his boyfriend’s side and rested his head on his shoulder.

“What? You think I’m scared of you like that?” The ex-tennis player asked teasingly. “Don’t think I can handle it?” Honestly, he didn’t even know if he could. In an everyday life situation? Probably. In tennis? Best not to test it.

“No," Akaya said just as honestly. "Well, you might be able to handle my bloodshot for a little bit, but you can't push me far enough to make me go to demon mode," he said simply and hooked their ankles together. "But I don't mind. I don't wanna play you like that..."

Hiyoshi took Akaya’s hand subtly in his and squeezed it between them. “Heh, don’t worry. If you beat me too badly on the courts I’ll just get my revenge by pounding you into a mat.” He didn’t realize until after he’d said it how wrong that sounded.

"Oh?" Akaya said slyly and leaned in to lick the rim of Hiyoshi’s ear. "Is that so?" he whispered, "Then I'll just have to demolish you on the court without mercy."

It was the first time in his life Hiyoshi actually seriously contemplated losing on purpose; it only lasted for a split second. “Hmm… I said you could probably beat me, not demolish me.” He smirked, as he turned to face him, their bodies moving closer and noses touching as he did so.

Akaya grinned devilishly and barely resisted the urge to kiss him; he didn't want to embarrass him too much. "Yeah well, you don't have a choice in the matter," he laughed.

Hiyoshi untangled Akaya from him, who by now was almost completely wrapped around him, and stood up. It was then that he became conscious of just how many people had probably seen them like that. He sighed and shook his head, amazed at what he was allowing the brat to get away with today. Oh well, the whole city probably had seen them by now anyway. “Oh, really? I guess we should find out.”

Ice Cream: Check

Yes, Hiyoshi was definitely out of practice. Fortunately, it wasn’t a complete embarrassment. He didn’t manage to win any games, but he did make Akaya run around quite a bit and got a good honest few points out of him. He could tell a few times that his boyfriend was truly trying not to get too serious when he lost a point, but over all he’d had fun and hoped Akaya did too. He even started to seriously contemplate coming out more if Akaya wanted to.

It had been a rather quick defeat, 6-0, though Akaya had been quite impressed that the other man had stolen a couple points from him. He'd managed to keep from going into bloodshot mode and was very proud of himself. He'd managed to play a nice relaxing game with him and it left him feeling fulfilled. "So, you gonna pound me into the mat now?" he said silkily across the net as he reached out to shake his boyfriend’s hand after the match.

“I don’t think that counts as ‘demolishing’ me.” Using their clasped hands, Hiyoshi pulled him closer. “However, there is always the choice of dinner and then you pounding me into a futon…” He flushed slightly. Gakuto had said to try and be kinky, Akaya liked kinky, but the most he could pull off was saying things out loud he usually wouldn’t. "Think you can deal with that?"

Akaya’s eyes went wide and he blinked a couple times before his brain processed what exactly Hiyoshi had just said. "Oh? I'm sure I can..." he said with a little smirk before crushing their lips together.

Today had definitely been a day of firsts for the romantically naïve martial artist. If a couple years… no, months ago, someone had told him he would be kissing his boyfriend on a tennis court after propositioning him… he would have punched the idiot. As it was though, he let the kiss hold for a moment more before pulling away. Akaya’s eyes were slightly glazed over when they opened, and since evening was fast approaching, the sunset was making Akaya’s eyes look shiny. “You ready to go, br—bright eyes?”

"Bright eyes?" Akaya laughed and gestured toward the locker room. "Well whatever, yeah, let's go." He started toward their bag with a racket over his shoulder. "Ah... That match felt good," he said with a little sigh.

That had to be Hiyoshi’s favorite replacement nickname so far, it was also the most fitting, though nothing could beat ‘brat’. Feeling rejuvenated, he followed Akaya towards the locker room with a teasing grin. Once they entered and were completely alone again, he asked with a smirk, “You don’t like my new nickname for you, bright eyes?” The match had felt good, and he was feeling much better now after the day of self-inflicted torture.

"Nah, it's not so bad," Akaya smirked at him, "it's better than brat." Of course, he didn't really mean it. Hell, he was beginning to miss it, but there was no way he was going to tell the other man that.

Bright eyes it was then, for the rest of the day anyway, which there wasn’t much left of. They cleaned up fast, Hiyoshi hurrying Akaya a long, which was easier to do once more people came in. It meant Akaya couldn’t try to distract them anymore. Then they were out and on their way to dinner.

Tennis: check

Trying to be as subtle as possible (which wasn’t subtle at all), Hiyoshi commented, “We haven’t gone to the small Yakinuki place in a while.” He was trying to make it Akaya’s idea. It wouldn’t be good if it was too obvious that he’d planned out the whole day for Akaya’s benefit.

"Eh?" Akaya thought about it for a moment then grinned. "You're right, you wanna go?" he asked curiously, "Yakiniku sounds good."

“Sure.” Ha! His scheme had worked. Hiyoshi was quiet proud of himself as they started walking in the direction of the yakiniku restaurant. They lapsed into a comfortable silence that Hiyoshi appreciated after the long loud day.

When they arrived and walked into the restaurant, Akaya’s stomach gave a loud rumble. He wasn't sure what exactly was up with his boyfriend, not that he was complaining about the attention, but it wasn't normal at all. "Wakashi," he asked curiously as they sat down and ordered, "Hey um... So what's up with you today?" he mumbled and stared down at the table. "I mean... I don't mind or nothin, but you're acting weird. And, I mean, you planned everything today, right? Are you sure you weren't abducted by aliens or something?"

Damn. He’d been found out after all. “Why do you always assume I’ve been abducted by aliens whenever I’m attempting to be nice to you?” Hiyoshi grumbled, glad they were out of range for the owner, Fujiwara-san, or anyone else to hear them. “Maybe I’m just trying to be a good boyfriend.” He explained lamely, taking a sip of his water to hide his expression.

Akaya looked up at him and smiled, it definitely had to be a dream, so he might as well enjoy it while he could. "Well thanks then, I'm having fun," he laughed and grinned up at the waitress as she brought out the plates of meat. "Oh man, so hungry..."

Hiyoshi heaved a small sigh of relief when Akaya dropped the subject. Once again, he had to be grateful for Akaya’s ability to just accept what was happening without asking too many questions. He supposed he could have just told Akaya that it was their two month anniversary.

He’d been told earlier the previous week by An that special dates like that were supposed to be important. Now he had to make up for their forgotten first one, White Day, and any other day he might have missed, but it was a little embarrassing to admit. As long as Akaya was enjoying himself, he didn’t need to know the reasons behind it.

He ate his yakiniku patiently while watching Akaya dig in. Usually he would have teased him by trying to steal his portion of the meat or something, but today wasn’t the day for that. It was boring.

Akaya looked over at Hiyoshi’s side of the grill and grinned mischievously before reaching over to steal a piece of his meat. "Heh, heh, victory!" he said happily and popped the piece into his mouth, "Mm... Damn that's good..." he groaned and went back to his plate, casting the occasional glance at the usually stoic boy across from him.

Hiyoshi chuckled lightly; at least one of them was having fun. He wondered curiously how Akaya would take it if he… he glanced around quickly to see if anyone was watching. Picking up a piece of his own meat with his chopsticks, he held it up to Akaya mouth, looking right into his eyes with a half smirk and raised eyebrow. He snickered internally; maybe he really had been abducted by aliens and didn’t know it.

Akaya blinked as the meat appeared in front of his mouth. What was Wakashi doing? Was he... trying to feed him? Weird, but he was never one to turn down free food (unless it was gross, but that was a whole different story). He smiled and opened his mouth with a little "Ahh..."

It was so tempting to bring the chopsticks back and eat it himself, but he was supposed to be nice today. Plus, Akaya looked cute in a ridiculous kind of way with his jaw hanging open like that. Oh well, the day was almost over anyway. He gently placed the meat in his boyfriend’s mouth, his smirk growing into an amused grin at Akaya’s reaction.

Akaya chewed the piece of meat happily, looking like everything was right with the world. He didn't know whether he should be disturbed that Hiyoshi was kind of acting like his girlfriend more than his boyfriend. Why ruin it by asking? He stayed quiet about it and finished his meal, making small talk about paintball and the arcade and how much Hiyoshi sucked at whack-a-mole.

By the time they were done eating, Hiyoshi was definitely ready to leave. There was only so much small talk and teasing he could take when he wasn’t allowed come backs. As soon as Akaya ate the last piece of meat, Hiyoshi was out of his chair and on his way to pay at the register. He was always appreciative to Fujisawa-san for never commenting on how the two of them always came in together, though she must have her curiosities. He politely thanked her and walked out, waiting just outside for Akaya to join him.

As Akaya got up to follow Hiyoshi, like he always did, he walked past Fujisawa and gave a little wink which brought a smile to her face. He laughed and walked out to meet his boyfriend. "We going back home?" he asked and looked at Hiyoshi curiously, wondering if he was going to get his promised time to pound his boyfriend into the futon.

Hiyoshi knew exactly what his boyfriend was thinking about. Since they were on a small street corner in the middle of a darkened housing area, he pulled his boyfriend into the shadows at the side of a building and wrapped his arms around him from behind. “That’s up to you,” he said into his ear, “We could always go to the park or the lake first,” he dragged his lips along skin, leaving a small trail of kisses down his neck. “Then go home.”

Akaya shivered and smirked mischievously. "Can we do it by the lake?" he asked with a little laugh. "It's secluded and we can lay down a coat and everything," he suggested and turned in his boyfriend’s arms before leaning back against the wall, tugging Hiyoshi with him. "Whaddaya say?"

Was Akaya joking? He didn’t look like he was joking… Need to clarify. “Are you serious?” Hiyoshi asked incredulously. He’d promised himself he would do whatever Akaya wanted today, including maybe something ‘kinky’ within reason, but… out in the open like that?

"Of course," Akaya said simply and looked at Hiyoshi with a completely honest expression. He was not above doing things in public. Hell, as much as he knew his boyfriend would hate it, he wasn't above going down on him right there in the little alleyway.

Hiyoshi sighed as his head fell forward into the crevice between his boyfriend’s neck and shoulder. Usually, the answer would have been an immediate and solemn NO, but… would it really be that bad? There probably wasn’t anyone else out this late by the lake, and it would make Akaya happy… Damn it, why was he even considering this? “I can’t believe I’m considering this…”

Akaya smiled and kissed him slowly and sensually before pulling away to whisper against his lips, "You won't regret it."

Tightening his hold on him, Hiyoshi looked Akaya seriously in the eye. “If anyone else is there, we go home. If anyone is in hearing range, we go home. If anyone CATCHES us… we go to our separate rooms. Understood?” Oh shit, he really just agreed to this.

Akaya thought about the conditions for a moment then nodded. "Okay." It was risky, and there was a high chance they'd be sleeping in their separate rooms, but it was worth the risk. He pressed his lips against Hiyoshi’s again then took his hand, "Let's go then!"

What had he been thinking, falling in love with a stupid brat like this? Hiyoshi pondered that as he let himself be enthusiastically dragged towards the lake. Once again, he would be doing something he could have sworn he’d never do. He held Akaya’s hand back, and a small smile graced his features.

Kinky sex: check

The next morning, Akaya awoke with a big grin and stretched out before wrapping around Hiyoshi and kissing him. "Good morning!" he said happily, expecting a warm welcome like he'd received the morning before.

Hiyoshi grunted at the movement and mumbled grumpily, “Still sleeping, brat. Go away.” He then promptly turned away from him and fell back asleep.

Akaya blinked and stared at his boyfriends back. "Eh?" What happened to his loving boyfriend from the day before? The one that had screamed so beautifully on the shores of the lake? "I-it was a dream?!" he cried with a painful pitiful moan and buried his face in his pillow. The world was too cruel.


	21. Chapter 21

After a long day of classes, Hiyoshi was finally on his way back to the dorm. It was a nice relief that Golden week gave them a few extra days off for the weekend since he still had a lot of make-up work to deal with thanks to ditching a whole day to spend with Akaya for their anniversary. He’d realized some time ago that while Akaya’s presence in his life was quite good for his over all mental and physical health, he was absolutely terrible for his education. He sometimes wondered how the brat even got through classes without flunking since he hardly ever saw him doing homework or heaven help him, study.

This weekend would be a good time for both relaxing and talking to Akaya about the recent developments with his family. Anyway, he didn’t want to think about that right now. Taking out his key, he unlocked the door, ‘I wonder if there is anything Akaya wants to do specifically for Golden week,’ he thought as he walked in.

Akaya didn't know what it was about English, but it always put him to sleep. He'd been studying while Hiyoshi was out and ended up falling asleep with the book on his face and one arm under the back of his head. He snored quietly and didn't even notice when his boyfriend walked in.

That was interesting. Just when Hiyoshi had been pondering over Akaya’s study habits, he finds him passed out with an English textbook. At least it seemed Akaya put in some effort to study. He put his stuff down quietly and sat at the edge of the futon, considering what he should do next. If Akaya slept now, he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight and would keep them both up. He removed the book from Akaya’s face and smirked at his goofy expression. His features were scrunched up as if puzzled over something. Was he trying to dream in English, too? Placing the book to the side, he said in heavily accented English while running his hands through Akaya’s hair, “Wake up, Akaya.”

The sleepy demon could have sworn someone was talking to him in English and the only person he knew who did that was..."Mm, twenty more minutes, Dad," he grumbled and buried his face against the nearest warmth, which happened to be Hiyoshi’s leg.

Hiyoshi laughed amusedly and ruffled Akaya’s hair a bit, “I’m not your father, brat. I don’t think he would do this.” Trailing a hand over Akaya’s arm, he bent down to claim Akaya’s lips. This was the most efficient way to wake him up after all.

At the feel of lips on his own, Akaya’s eyes shot open and he groaned before letting them flutter shut again as he buried a hand in Hiyoshi’s hair and kissed him back enthusiastically. There was no better way in the world to wake up.

Enjoying the moment, Hiyoshi let the kiss linger, sealing their mouths together before switching to tiny nips, eventually pulling away all together. “Now get up,” he smirked. “Don’t you have studying to do?”

Akaya pouted a little per usual as Hiyoshi pulled away. "Nah, got better things to do," he said with a little grin and sat up. "When'd you get here?" he asked curiously and scratched the back of his head with a big yawn.

“Just now.” Hiyoshi got up from the futon and went back to his bag, intending to get his own homework out. If he got a head start now, he’d have the rest of the weekend to relax. “How long have you been asleep for?”

Akaya stretched and stood to pop his back, neck, and fingers. "Ah...Hm... I don't know..." He walked up behind Hiyoshi and draped himself over the other man’s shoulders. "Welcome home, Wakashi," he said softly and gave his boyfriend’s ear a little nip.

Hiyoshi sighed and leaned back into Akaya, the small grin on his face completely ruining the tone of his words. “Get off, brat. I have homework to do.”

"I'm sure we can find something more fun for you to do than homework," Akaya said with a little mischievous smile, not at all put off by Hiyoshi’s words. "I still haven't gotten to thank you properly for our anniversary present or give you a present in return."

“You don’t need to…” Wait. Hiyoshi stilled when he realized what Akaya just said and turned around in his arms, glaring. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Shit.

"You suck at lying," Akaya said flatly and kissed him lightly and quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't realize what it was," he said quietly. He really did feel bad for not realizing they'd been together for two months already or that his boyfriend was trying to make an effort to give him what he wanted on their anniversary.

A little embarrassed, the Mushroom was going to deny everything, but when he saw the look on Akaya’s face, he knew there was no helping it. He’d been found out. “You didn’t need to know. That wasn’t the point.” He pulled away with a small blush on his cheeks and started to take his textbooks out of his bag. “Who told you?” At least he could get revenge somehow.

"An-chan," Akaya said simply and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s waist again and turned him to face him. "What are you so embarrassed about?" he asked curiously and lightly set his forehead against Hiyoshi’s. "It made me happy..." he closed his eyes, "I liked knowing you put so much thought into something like that."

Great, one of the few people he couldn’t get any kind of decent revenge on without feeling guilty. Hiyoshi rolled his eyes as the redness on his cheeks intensified. “Well good, ‘cause it’s not going to happen again.” Okay, maybe it would… someday. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to go the entire day without calling you a brat?” he remembered all those ridiculous nicknames he’d had to use in its place, not to mention the crowds of people and sappiness he’d had to endure.

Akaya laughed and opened his eyes to smile at his boyfriend. "Yeah, you kinda suck at coming up with nicknames," he teased, "Next time will be my turn to do everything you like and wanna do, okay?" he offered.

Hiyoshi chuckled a bit and leaned forward to brush their lips together. “There’s no need, bright eyes, but I appreciate the thought.” So Akaya made him sappy, oh well. At least he hadn’t liked the nicknames. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of day Akaya would plan for them, but didn’t think he’d want to live through it.

Akaya smiled and tried not to laugh at the use of the nickname, maybe he was growing a little partial to that one. "Can I at least give you a gift then?" he asked softly.

“What kind of gift?” Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Dinner and maybe some fun afterward?" the mini demon suggested with a sly little smirk, "You want to try topping?"

Hiyoshi couldn’t help the small snicker that escaped him. Leave it to Akaya to proposition him as a gift. “That’s what you consider a gift, brat? Letting me top?” He leaned back against the desk and leered at Akaya dangerously. “Are you sure that isn’t more of a gift for you? I assure you there will be no trying and a lot more doing.”

"Oh really?" Akaya said challengingly but with a sly tone, "You think you're that good huh?" Hiyoshi was a good bottom and Akaya loved topping him, but he was a master of the subject and wasn't about to let someone challenge his title like that. Even Wakashi. Not to mention, he enjoyed the cocky arrogant side of his boyfriend, it fit perfectly well with his little dominant top kink.

“I never said I was good,” Hiyoshi’s eyes wandered down Akaya’s form, a form he had grown to appreciate quite thoroughly over the last two months and licked his lips the way Akaya did when he was looking at something he liked, before looking him straight in the eyes again, “but you’re going to be begging for me all the same by the end.” He had definitely picked up one or two of Akaya’s bad habits from their time together.

Akaya barely fought back the shiver of want as Hiyoshi looked him over. Apparently his boyfriend had picked up some of his bad habits, not that he minded at all. "I don't beg, but you're welcome to try and make me," he said, taking a slow step forward, a mischievous spark in his eye.

Accepting the challenge, Hiyoshi stayed his ground as Akaya came closer. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, brat. I have something that you don’t have…” He was always wary yet strangely excited when Akaya had that look in his eye.

"Oh? And what is that?" Akaya whispered as he got closer, his lips a mere inch from Hiyoshi’s as he stared into his eyes, issuing a challenge.

“An abundance of patience.” Hiyoshi leaned forward and pecked him lightly on the nose before side stepping away from him and walked towards the door. “You mentioned something about dinner?”

Akaya nearly fell forward on the desk as Hiyoshi moved away from him. Damn it. He hated being impatient sometimes, and he hated Hiyoshi being right even more. "Yeah..." he mumbled and turned around to face his boyfriend, "Whaddaya wanna eat?"

“Whatever you want is fine.” Hiyoshi gave his usual answer. He decided to leave his jacket behind since it had been warm lately.

"Uh, how about hmm..." Akaya answered as he usually did and looked up at the ceiling as he thought. "Maybe ramen?" he suggested off-handedly.

“Okay, let’s go.” With the crowd Hiyoshi usually ended up with, namely Akaya or Gakuto, he typically got dragged around to wherever they wanted to go, so it really didn’t matter to him. On their way out, he looked over at his still untouched school books. Yes, Akaya was a terrible influence on his education.

As Hiyoshi predicted, by the time they’d gotten to the ramen shop and had a good meal, Akaya had completely forgotten about his offer to treat for dinner until after Hiyoshi had already paid and they were walking home. Now he was trying to block out the complaining coming from next to him. He shivered again as he felt the wind on his bare arms. When was he ever going to learn? Damn weather. It had been nice and warm all day and even the night before. Of course, after they had exited the small ramen shop, a cold wind had picked up causing a chill to run through his body. If there was one thing Hiyoshi hated about his body, it was its non-existed resistance to cold. Not willing to show his weakness to his boyfriend, he merely picked up his pace to get back home to their warm dorm room.

How could he have forgotten?! Akaya was too used to Hiyoshi paying for everything that he didn't even think about it anymore. He walked down the street next to his boyfriend, keeping his pace effortlessly. Once he sped up, he looked over at him and frowned. Why hadn't the dummy brought a coat? He pulled off his own, which was very warm from his almost unusual body heat and dropped it on Hiyoshi, "Use that."

“I don’t need your coat like a damn girl.” Hiyoshi said between clenched teeth and threw the jacket back at him. “It’s been warm out so I didn’t think I’d need it.” He hated it when his boyfriend treated him like a girl. He knew it wasn’t on purpose and that he was only trying to be nice, but that didn’t help his manly pride feel any better. The cold was putting him in a bad mood.

"Fine then, freeze to death, stupid mushroom," Akaya snapped back and pulled the coat back on. If his boyfriends pride wouldn't even allow him to wear an offered warm coat, then he could just suffer. See if Akaya cared... Okay, so he cared a bit and it was bugging him to no end to watch his boyfriend shiver like that, but he didn't have a choice.

They got to a train passing and had to wait for the train to go by, but it seemed like it was taking forever. The martial artist really hated his male pride sometimes, now regretting and trying not to look woefully at the stupid jacket. He was too stubborn to take back his words though and continued shivering as the never-ending train continued to pass. “What are your plans for Golden week? Are you going home?” He really hoped the answer was in the negative, not wanting to have to be without Akaya for so long when he was going to have to leave soon, too.

"No. I got enough 'family time' over break, I don't need more, trust me," Akaya said, trying to ignore the way Hiyoshi was shivering. When it didn't seem like the train was going to end anytime soon, he wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi and pulled him back against him to keep him warm.

How Hiyoshi could justify that being held in boyfriend’s arms was less girlish then accepting a jacket was a mystery even to him. Nevertheless, he leaned back and relaxed into Akaya’s arms, accepting his warmth. “Good,” he replied quietly, “I’ll be leaving in about a week. I’ll be gone for two weeks in Singapore.”

Akaya blinked and tightened his hold on Hiyoshi without realizing it. "You what? Why?" What the hell could the other man possibly need to do in Singapore of all places?

“We have family friends there who run a dojo. To make a long story short, the dojo master will not be able to fulfill his duties during those weeks. Usually my father would go himself or they would cancel classes, but they decided to send me instead.” The train finally went by and they were able to cross, but Akaya wasn’t moving and Hiyoshi wasn’t breaking away.

"Oh..." Well at least it was just to help out. "But you'll be back right after, right?" Akaya asked and nuzzled the side of Hiyoshi’s neck. He didn't like the idea of his boyfriend running off to a foreign country without him, but he knew Hiyoshi could take care of himself and would kick his ass for suggesting otherwise.

“Of course, brat. I’ll come back sooner if I can. I’m not all that thrilled with being forced to go in the first place.” Hiyoshi been to Singapore plenty of times and had never found anything terribly worthwhile for him there. His father had literally demanded he go, so what choice did he have? He finally pulled out of the warmth of Akaya’s arms so they could finish their walk back to campus.

Akaya walked along beside Hiyoshi with his hands in his pockets. His eyes constantly roamed over the area, taking in everything. "You sure you don't wanna use the coat?" He asked curiously and cast a glance at his boyfriend who was still shivering.

Glad that Akaya had taken the news better than anticipated, Hiyoshi felt his chest lighten and held out his hand. “Fine, but not because I need it, just because you don’t.”

Akaya laughed and pulled off the coat then handed it over. "Of course, I just don't wanna carry it anymore. Why else would I offer it to you?" he smiled at him and shoved his hands back in his pockets.

Hiyoshi nodded, glad Akaya understood. They were almost back to the dorm, but there was one more thing Hiyoshi wanted to bring up. “I was thinking…” he started awkwardly. “Once I get back and things have settled down at home… Would you like to meet my parents?” He was taking a chance with this, but he’d thought long and hard on it and he wanted to make Akaya happy.

Akaya tripped on the steps but caught himself before he hit the ground and his face was a look of complete shock. "Y-y-you mean it?! Really?" He stared at Hiyoshi like the mushroom hair cut had just come to life. "I mean, I want to, yeah, totally!"

“Just so we’re clear, I’m not going to tell them about us or anything. But, I was thinking it might be good to just get them used to you.” He didn’t want to get his brat’s hopes up. There was a chance that his parents may not want to take the time to meet him, but if Akaya’s reaction was any indication, it was worth it for him to try.

"That's okay," Akaya said, practically glowing from how happy he was. "I'm just really happy I get to meet them," he said honestly and skipped a bit all the way back to the room. He couldn't wait to meet the parents that raised the man he knew and loved.

It was one of the best feelings in the world, walking into their room (actually it was Akaya’s room) after a good dinner, Akaya smiling beside him, knowing that they wouldn’t have to leave any time soon. He took Akaya’s jacket off and hung it in the closet.

Once in the room, Akaya kicked off his shoes and flopped down face first on the bed with a little laugh. "Heh heh, that was fun," he said happily and grinned at his boyfriend.

Hiyoshi leaned down and turned Akaya’s head to claim his lips greedily, if a bit more needy than usual. There was never any foreplay needed for them. What Hiyoshi wanted, he took, and the same went for Akaya. Right then, he wanted his brat. While one hand kept Akaya’s head in place, the other began undoing the buttons on his shirt.

Akaya rolled to his back and pulled Hiyoshi on top of him with a little groan. He liked this little dominant streak. He knew if he poked at his boyfriend’s pride he could get this reaction, and he loved it. It was seldom his plans worked perfectly (if at all). He worked on getting his shirt off with Hiyoshi’s help then threw it off the bed.

Never leaving his lips, Hiyoshi was now on all fours on top of Akaya making him lean up to reach him. He broke the kiss to tell him in a commanding voice, “Face down, brat.”

The look of surprise was obvious, but Akaya did as he was told and flipped to his stomach before looking back over his shoulder at the other man.

Before he started anything, Hiyoshi pulled his own shirt up and over his head, and discarded it on the floor. Straightening for a moment on top of Akaya, he took in his boyfriend’s form on the bed and his very pleasing-to-the-eye smooth and muscled back, straddling Akaya comfortably. The brat looked calm and relaxed as his back rose and fell with his breathing. He knew he was waiting for him.

Hiyoshi’s first act was not even what he himself expected, he didn’t feel hurried at all and wanted to prolong this as long as possible. He moved to touch Akaya’s well defined back, just the hint of fingertips grazing over warm skin, sliding slowly up his sides and down his spine. The skin quivered slightly under his touch. Leaning down, he buried his face in the back of Akaya’s neck, breathing deeply.

The fingers made him shiver and Akaya clenched his hands near his head as the other boy breathed against his neck. "I love you," he said softly, infinitely more comfortable saying it now than he had been just a couple weeks ago. He tilted his head forward a bit, bearing more of his neck to Hiyoshi.

Hiyoshi smiled and kissed the back of his neck softly. Slowly, the light touch of his hands gradually became more intense until it had turned into a full out unexpected back rub. He was enjoying hearing the start of little groans spilling from his boyfriend’s lips, moving his expert hands slowly and digging deeply into the muscles of Akaya’s back. As much as he knew this was not what Akaya expected, he also knew they were both enjoying it. He wanted Akaya to forget everything; all of his damn past experiences with other people, wipe his mind blank of anything but the two of them.

Akaya buried his face in the bed and groaned every time his boyfriend’s skilled fingers found a knot. This was not what he'd had in mind, but he definitely wasn't going to complain. He almost never got massages, but he was always grateful when he did. "Mm... feels so good..." he said happily

Continuing the tender assault on Akaya’s back, Hiyoshi moved lower, kissing down between his shoulder blades. He almost expected Akaya to urge him on and ask him to get to it already, but he was comfortable with this familiar action. When he reached the demon boy’s jeans, he outlines his skin just above the hem before reaching underneath to unclasp and pull the zipper steadily down.

Akaya lifted his hips, making it a bit easier for Hiyoshi to get at his zipper. He didn't mind the slow pace, it wasn't something he was used to, but it was by no means bad.

Once Akaya’s pants were undone, instead of removing them right away, he slowly made his way back up Akaya’s body. Truth be told, he was getting frustrated with himself. This was nice, but he stalling… probably because of nerves. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what to do, Akaya had shown him quite thoroughly a few times, but this was different. There was a large psychological difference between giving and taking. When he had given himself to Akaya, he had placed a lot of trust in him, had let him have that claim on him. It was on a whole other level completely to place that claim. That was why he could never be casual with sex; there was too much meaning in it for him. For Akaya, that wasn’t the case, and that bothered him since he didn’t want to be compared to all his past partners. Damn it. He didn’t want to think about this shit right now, he needed to finish what he started. “Akaya…” he said while kissing his shoulders and running his hands down his arms “make me stop thinking.”

Akaya twisted his body around, in a move that would have made Gakuto proud, to look at his boyfriend. "You always over think things," he said with a little smile then expertly maneuvered himself so he was completely on his back. Finally in a more convenient position, he pulled the other man down into a slow heated kiss. He wanted his boyfriend to think about him and only him and not worry about what had happened in the past or what was going to happen in the future. That wasn't important. "Don't worry so much," he said softly against the other man’s lips.

Hiyoshi opened his mouth to protest but found it occupied before a single word was uttered. Akaya’s kiss was so insistent that his own tongue answered in kind. Tongues intertwined and breath was stolen. “I’m going to tell you a secret, brat.” Absently, his hands glided down Akaya’s chest and then to his hips where he gripped Akaya’s pants and began to slide them down. The connection of their hips kept the pants from sliding all the way off, but the action revealed the smooth curve of Akaya’s backside and Hiyoshi ran his hand over bare skin.

"A secret?" Akaya asked softly, not even contesting his brat-ness because he was far too curious to know the secret, but he couldn't hold back the quiet little groan at the hands on his skin.

“I’m selfish.” He clutched at Akaya’s skin wherever they were touching, and their eyes connected. “I want to tie you up and fuck you so good and hard that you’ll never want anyone else ever again.” He was thinking about all the other people Akaya had fucked with, and he hated it. Tearing his eyes away, he gave his attention to Akaya’s heaving chest, his tongue running over a nipple and nipped non-too-gently at it. “I’m fucking terrified of fucking things up.”

When he put it like that, there was no way Akaya was going to tell him that Hiyoshi was already the only one he wanted. Instead, he lifted his hands up above his head and crossed his wrists, letting out a deep moan at the bite to his sensitive nipple. "Then what are you waiting for?" he asked in a deep husky voice. "There is nothing you could do to fuck things up, nothing," he assured. "There’s a tie in the night stand. You can use that," he added helpfully, very excited at the prospect of being tied up.

Hiyoshi stopped for a moment, contemplating what to do, before a both happy and sadistic grin crossed his features. “You better remember those words.” Then he was up and retrieving items from the small night stand next to them. “If we’re going to do this my way...” he threw him the pack of lube Akaya always kept around. “Finish undressing yourself. Then I want to watch you prepare yourself for me.”

Akaya’s eyebrows disappeared up behind his bangs as he caught the lube with ease. Apparently his boyfriend was kinkier than he thought, not that he was complaining. A sly almost slutty smile settled on his face and his eyes sparked with lust. He wondered how long it would take him to break that strong willpower his lover was known for. He slid off his remaining clothes slowly and dropped them to the floor before slicking up his fingers and spreading his legs wide.   
He slid his hand down and ran his finger over his entrance, teasing it with a little gasp, determined to make a show of it for Hiyoshi. He dipped his finger inside, easily relaxing around it as his eyes locked onto his boyfriend’s.

Hiyoshi could feel his pulse racing and his skin heating, his eyes locked on the little show Akaya was putting on for his benefit. The look he was given made it hard to breath and he desperately wanted to reach out and touch him. But no, that was not how he wanted this game to be played. He still needed his pants off and be prepared as well. “When you’re finished with that…” his voice shook, barely able to keep his composure, “would you mind coming over here and doing the same for me?” Despite the way it was phrased, it certainly wasn’t a question.

Akaya could hear what his little display was doing to Hiyoshi and it made him smirk. "Yes, sir," he murmured breathily and slipped a second finger in. Experience had proven that he could get by with only two fingers no problem. After a moment, he removed them and crawled over to the edge of the bed and started undoing Hiyoshi’s pants; only to slip them down to the other man’s ankles.

If Hiyoshi hadn’t had years of training in both patience and dealing with frustration, Akaya would be on his back right now whether he was ready or not. Steeling himself, he managed to get his breathing under control, if not his racing heart, and merely raised an eyebrow at his lover. Stepping out of the circle of his pants, he threw his words back at him. “So? What are you waiting for?”

"Aren't you supposed to be patient?" Akaya asked with a little smirk before running his tongue up along Hiyoshi’s length while he poured some lube onto his hand. Pulling away to kiss at Hiyoshi’s abs, he wrapped his hand around his boyfriend’s cock and slid it along it, covering it in the slick gel.

Hiyoshi sucked in his breath then let it out slowly. He doubted even saints could be patient through this, especially if it was the fault of a particular chibi demon. “I’ll show you patient,” Hiyoshi sneered then yanked Akaya up by the hair to crush their mouths together. Using a slightly modified Judo move, he slammed Akaya onto the bed. Without giving Akaya time to orient himself, he tied his hands above his head and to the bedpost. One thing about martial artists, they were very good at tying knots. “Trust me…” he whispered hotly into his ear as he finished off the knot, “I’m going to be very, very… patient.”

It had been a while since anyone had been that rough with him and Akaya honestly could say he'd missed it. He gasped and grunted as he suddenly found himself on his back, his arms trapped above his head. He tugged at the restraints curiously and was impressed with the strength of the knot. He didn't know if he liked the sound of the last part though, "Mm... Wakashi..."

This was exactly what Hiyoshi had wanted. Just the two of them, four walls, door locked, building nearly empty due to Golden Week, and a willingly tied up demon brat on their bed. He chuckled into Akaya’s neck as he rained down harsh bruising kisses along his neck and shoulders, giving specific attention to his Adams apple. “You realize… this is our first time… doing it in an actual bed?” He gave a particularly harsh bite to Akaya’s collar bone then lapped at it with his tongue. He was holding himself so that no other part of them was touching, even though he ached for the contact.

Akaya hummed and growled happily at the bite to his collarbone that would definitely leave a mark. "Yeah... but... Mmm... I like doing it other places too..." he tried to arch up against his boyfriend and steal back the contact he longed for, even though he knew he probably wouldn't get it.

Hiyoshi pulled his body up and farther out of Akaya’s reach, but continued his line of bruising kisses till he reached his stomach and abs, licking his way over his naval, breath skimming over the tightening muscles. “Hmm… I think I figured that out.” He moved even lower, but skipped over the very red and weeping erection, only nuzzling the side of it fondly for a brief moment before continuing on to suck and bite down Akaya’s legs and inner thighs. “You better hold still brat, or I’ll bite harder and maybe have to find more ways to keep you in place.”

"Nnn..." Akaya’s hips twitched up in response, but after that he managed to hold them in place. "Yes, sir," he mumbled again and held onto the restraint tightly to keep himself focused. He was never going to get what he wanted if he disobeyed his stubborn boyfriend.

“Mmm… Good brat.” Hiyoshi smirked at Akaya’s “Yes, sir” having no idea where that came from, but not about to complain. He worked down Akaya’s legs, his calves, and even took a moment to lick around his ankles, using his hands finally to push down hard on the rough calluses and tender spots on the bottom of his feet. “I’m going to taste and feel all of you. Think you can handle that?”

"Yeah... Do your worst," Akaya teased and almost immediately after wished he hadn't. If he knew his boyfriend at all, the other man would take that challenge. He closed his eyes and groaned quietly, flexing his toes and curling them to distract himself from the tingles of pleasure racing up his legs.

Hiyoshi couldn’t help the competitive smirk that came to his face, growing even more excited at Akaya’s challenge. The best part was, no matter who came out on top, they both would win in the end. He could already see the line of red marks forming down Akaya’s body and felt a possessive shudder go through him. Repeating the same process up Akaya’s other leg, he made sure to leave no area untouched by his demanding hands and lips.

When Hiyoshi came to Akaya’s erection again, there was no hesitation this time. He licked a long line down the side before taking part of it into his mouth and rubbed his tongue over the head several times. Retracting slowly, he sucked gently at the tip before releasing it. He sat up to look Akaya in the eyes as he parted Akaya’s legs so his fingers could explore Akaya’s opening that had been so hotly prepared for him earlier. It was still wet and waiting for him as he traced it lightly. “This is what you want?” he asked with obvious lust in his usually sardonic voice.

Akaya was going to be covered in marks, just how he liked it. He still believed there was nothing hotter than watching his boyfriend go down on him. He spread his legs more automatically and craned his neck to look at Hiyoshi. "Yeah..." he murmured huskily, his abs flexing and burning with the effort of holding him up at the odd angle, "it is."

“Good.” Hiyoshi pulled his fingers away and positioned himself in front of Akaya’s entrance, stroking his own neglected erection a few times as he did so, knowing that Akaya could see him. “So… what do you say?” Looking into Akaya’s eyes, he waited.

So close, damn it. Akaya watched Hiyoshi stroke himself and groaned. "Damn mushroom," he mumbled and wriggled his hips. "Just do it, damn it," he said stubbornly and wrapped his legs tightly around Hiyoshi’s waist. He was definitely not going to beg for it.

Hiyoshi had expected that, but was not put off. In fact, there was an excited glint in his eyes. “Now that’s not very nice, Akaya.” Without stopping the light strokes on his own erection, he used his other hand to trace random patterns like calligraphy along Akaya’s abdomen, before trailing up and pinching a nipple, hard. “But don’t worry,” he added as his leaned up far enough so that their erections brushed against each other as their lips did the same. “If you’re not ready, we’ve got the whole evening to continue… but I’d much rather be inside you during that time.”

"I'm ready," Akaya moaned out, refusing to break, but already aching for Hiyoshi, even as their bodies slid together. "Damn it, take me already Wakashi," he groaned and nipped his boyfriend’s lower lip. "Come on," he urged and rolled his hips up against Hiyoshi’s.

“Sorry, bright eyes.” Hiyoshi’s eyes were laughing even as the rest of him cried out for the same thing Akaya’s did. “But I haven’t heard the magic words yet.” He dipped his tongue into Akaya’s mouth, letting him taste himself on his tongue and lips.

Akaya shivered and sucked at his boyfriend tongue hungrily, trying to get him to agree without him having to beg. Kirihara Akaya didn't beg for anything, except food... and tennis matches... and video games... Damn it... "Wakashi, please," he whimpered, "I want you."

Hiyoshi gave out a low guttural moan at the words, feeling them shiver all the way up and down his spine and immediately positioned himself again at Akaya’s entrance. In a harsh and husky voice, he reminded him, “Remember… I warned you… I’m not going to be gentle.” Before Akaya had a chance to respond, without pause, he pushed into Akaya’s small opening. A crash of almost blinding tightness and warmth encompassing him.

Akaya arched up and tugged at his restraints desperately. "Ahh!" He grit his teeth and took deep breaths. His boyfriend was lucky he'd been handled much rougher before or he might have had to kick his ass later. It took him a moment, but soon he relaxed around Hiyoshi and used his legs to pull the other man into him all the way. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been topped by someone, but damn had he missed it. "Mm... Just the right size," he groaned with a little smile as he wiggled his hips against Hiyoshi, tightening his muscles around him teasingly.

After the initial intrusion, Hiyoshi had to get his barring before he literally lost it right there. It was amazing, and whatever the hell Akaya was doing was amazing. He needed to hold himself together for Akaya’s sake since he knew from personal experience that there was much more he could do for him. Going against his base instinct to start moving, he first craned his face up to kiss Akaya’s lips to help ground himself. “I want to make you happy,” he whispered tenderly before starting to rock his hips back and forth slowly, trying to find that little spot he knew would make Akaya see stars.

The words made Akaya smile and tug at his restraints, wishing he could wrap his arms around Hiyoshi’s neck and hold him. He could tell what the other man was trying to do. "Tilt your hips up a bit," he purred in that deep husky voice and adjusted his own hip just enough that if Hiyoshi followed his instructions he would have it perfectly.

Hiyoshi could feel the exertion in his body as he tried to keep focus. Doing as he was told, which actually took some of the pressure off his knees; he tilted his hips and raised them forward to meet with Akaya’s. He grabbed a hold of Akaya’s hips as well to hopefully take some of the stress off him and give him better leverage.

Akaya moaned happily and adjusted his hips the last little bit it needed for Hiyoshi to brush against his prostate. He arched up again with a loud cry of pleasure as sparks danced across his eyes. "Nn, there—hah… Remember that spot," he murmured and watched Hiyoshi’s face to make sure he was listening. "It feels different, can you tell?"

If Hiyoshi hadn’t been so busy already, he might have laughed at Akaya’s amusing display of playing sex-ed teacher while in the middle of the act. As it was, he just chuckled breathily. Proceeding with his earlier instinct, he pulled his hips back before slamming into Akaya, shifting and thrusting into Akaya again and again.

"A-ah---perfect--" Akaya clenched his hands and tugged at his restraints as the repeated hits to his prostate made his vision go white. He moaned loudly and started clenching down around him on purpose. He was an expert at controlling his inner muscles and he used the skill shamelessly.

Hiyoshi loved the feel of Akaya surrounding him and greedily soaked up his brat’s moans as he pounded into him. Leaning up to nip and bite anywhere he could reach, he braced a hand on the side of the bed to keep his balance as he proceeded to fuck his lover as hard and thoroughly as possible. He didn’t know how long he could last like this, Akaya’s hot inner wall surrounding him, closing in on him as if trying to keep him there, moaning into his ear, but he was determined to last as long as he needed to, until Akaya was ready to go with him.

"Nnn..." Akaya groaned and tugged desperately at his restraints, "F-fuck... Wakashi... Touch me..." he gasped and looked up at his boyfriend with a desperate plea in his eyes. "Almost there..." He'd never been good at being quiet in bed. He loved talking and hearing his lovers talk too much.

They were slamming together hard enough make the whole bed shake. Every time Akaya arched up into his thrusts and let out one of those sexy demonic moans, it was enough to drive him absolutely insane. Hiyoshi clenched his jaw, biting at his lower lip, trying so hard to keep even a small shred of control, but he could feel his movements instinctively speeding up and the burn of exhilaration. At Akaya’s plea, he couldn’t help but react and reach down to take Akaya in hand, groaning at the familiar burning hotness in his hand as he pumped the flesh just as he is was pumping his hips. “Akaya… ah… damn…”

As the hand wrapped around him, Akaya let out a pleased moan and clenched down around Hiyoshi tightly before finally letting go and letting the waves over pleasure engulf him. He cried out loudly and sent the evidence of his pleasure streaming over his chest and abs in hot streams.

Hiyoshi couldn’t hold back anymore, and a moment later he was groaning out a word that vaguely resembled Akaya’s name as he felt white hot pleasure course through him. The moment seemed to last an eternity as he released himself into his lover, eyes locked on Akaya as he did so. By far the hottest view he’d ever seen in his life.

By the time he came to his senses again, Hiyoshi was collapsed on top of Akaya, both wet and panting. His lips trembling as he turned to the side to kiss Akaya’s slackened open and quivering mouth. “See…” he gasped out, “I told you I’d get you to beg for me.” He reached up to easily unfasten the secure knot that held Akaya’s hands hostage by just pulling one end of the string.

Akaya brought his hands down slowly, working past the ache in his shoulders and wrapped them around Hiyoshi. "S-shut up..." he mumbled and kissed his boyfriend again, "I didn't beg... just asked politely..."

Hiyoshi let out a soft laugh and looked down at Akaya, obvious affection and happiness in his gaze. “I guess I need to try harder then next time.”

"Who said you get a next time?" Akaya smirked and rolled them over so he was lying on top. "Maybe next time it will be you begging."

Hiyoshi’s smile only widened at the roll reversal, not at all uncomfortable with the situation, and the words slipped out before he could stop them. “What the hell was I thinking, falling in love with a stupid, selfish brat like you?”

Akaya blinked a couple times. A big childish innocent smile spread from ear to ear. "I don't know, but I'm really glad you did," he leaned down and kissed his boyfriend slowly and sensually.

Pulling his brat closer, if that was even possible, Hiyoshi kissed him back contentedly. “It will take a lot to get Hiyoshi Wakashi to beg for anything… Though I guess you deserve a fair shot…” He smirked up at his boyfriend with that same egotistical charm he’d shown earlier. “I believe the showers would be deserted at this time…” When had this happened? When had he become like this? Looking up at Akaya, seeing Akaya looking back down at him, he didn’t think it mattered.

Akaya couldn't even try to hold back his laugh at that. "Wow, you're kinky," he laughed and pressed their foreheads together. "Must be because you've been all repressed for so long," he teased and kissed him quickly, "but that sounds like a lot of fun and a good challenge." He sat back on Hiyoshi and slowly lifted himself off his boyfriend, groaning and wincing slightly as his body tried to hold onto the intrusion.

Hiyoshi had a moment to look indignant at Akaya’s words before Akaya was pulling away from him. He gently turned them over onto their sides to make it easier. It was one of the oddest feelings of loss he’d ever felt, next to the feeling of Akaya pulling out of him. Once they were separated though, he leaned forward so their foreheads were touching, trying to keep some of that connection. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I hope I wasn’t a complete disappointment.”

"Mmm... You were awesome. You sure it was your first time?" Akaya teased and kissed Hiyoshi’s nose.

“Yes, fairly certain,” Hiyoshi smiled easily before a far off look replaced it for a split second, “Though… there was that one time with… but that doesn’t matter.” He shook his head and his tone turned teasing. “I’m glad you thought so, since you won’t be getting anything else for a while due to your earlier comment.” He slowly started to move away off the bed.

Akaya glomped onto his back and held onto him tight "One time with who!?" he asked with wide eyes and obvious shock in his voice. "Tell me!" he commanded like a little kid who wanted to know the location to the hidden store of candy. "Wakash~i!"

Surprised at Akaya’s outburst, Hiyoshi looked at him confused then answered carefully. “It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago. We were young and stupid.” He attempted to untangle himself from the web that was Akaya’s limbs.

Akaya just held onto Hiyoshi tighter and frowned. "I wanna know!" He pouted and rested his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder. "Come on, young and stupid or not, I'm curious."

Hiyoshi didn’t feel comfortable talking about this, and regretted even bringing it up. He had mostly forgotten about it until recently. “I don’t want to talk about it, brat. Let me go so I can take a shower, with or without you.”

Akaya frowned deeper, noticing the seriousness in Hiyoshi’s voice. "Alright… sorry," he said quietly and let go so he could stand up and grab his towel. He didn't bother with clothes since he didn't really have anything to hide. It was all men on that floor anyway so he headed for the door, buck naked and covered in the evidence from their previous activities. He tossed the towel over his shoulder and grabbed his bottle of shampoo that always sat near the door. "Ready?"

Hiyoshi shook his head and covered himself with his bathrobe. “If you’re going out like that, than go on ahead without me and I’ll join you in a minute.” Getting Akaya to behave in public was a battle he’d finally admitted he would never win. It didn’t do any good to get upset about it either, but that didn’t mean he had to be there to watch.

Looking at him curiously, Akaya shrugged. "Suit yourself," he mumbled and walked out into the hall, closing the door with a click behind him. As soon as he was alone, his mind started turning over the idea that Hiyoshi had done something like that with someone before and wouldn't tell him about it. He wasn't sure what bothered him most, not being his only one or that he wouldn't talk about it.

Hiyoshi sighed once Akaya was out the door and waited a few minutes before going to join him. He was sure once they were together again they would pretend like that awkwardness had never happened, and he was glad for it.


	22. Chapter 22

Hiyoshi looked up at the sky as he and Akaya arrived at the roof of Akaya’s dorm. Gakuto’s fireworks for Children’s Day hadn’t started yet and he was glad to see it looked like there would be a clear sky for it. The last time they’d watched Gakuto’s fireworks, it had been on this same roof on Valentines Day with An accompanying them. That night hadn’t ended on a very good note, but looking over at Akaya’s excited features as he impatiently waited for the fireworks to start, Hiyoshi had no doubt that tonight would have a much better outcome.

He was holding a thick blanket for them to sit on while Akaya was carrying a few snacks they had picked out earlier. Taking the snacks from Akaya, he tossed him the blanket telling him to lay it out wherever he wanted to view the fireworks from. He’d also made sure to bring a thick coat for each of them in case it got cold, though he doubted Akaya would need or want it.

Akaya was excited about the fireworks, he was also very excited that An wasn't with them this time. It meant they could snuggle up close and kiss, if not do something a bit more. He grinned devilishly to himself at the thought as he laid the blanket down in a good spot.

Flopping down on the blanket happily, he patted the area next to him. "Join me in my office," he teased and lay down. He'd always loved Children’s Day.

Raising an eyebrow, Hiyoshi chuckled and leaned down, straightening out the blanket at the edges. “Your office? Isn’t this my blanket? If anything, you’re trespassing on my office.”

"Nah, you're my boyfriend," Akaya stuck his tongue out at him then laughed, "What's yours is mine."

“Is that so? Does this mean that everything that’s yours is mine, too?” Hiyoshi sat down on the spot allotted for him. “In that case, I can throw away whatever of ours we don’t need,” he teased, referring to Akaya extensive and sometimes rather disturbing amount of porn he kept finding on the floor and having to resist the urge to chuck.

"Nope," Akaya laughed and flopped his head into Hiyoshi’s lap, "It just works the one way," he snickered, "So no, you can't throw away my porn." He saw the way his boyfriend eyed his stacks of playboys. There was no way he was losing them to the garbage, he liked the articles. "Though I'll totally share with you, you can read all the ones you want."

“No thank you,” Hiyoshi wrinkled his nose in disgust but brought his hand up to comb through Akaya’s untidy mess of hair. At one point, out of vague curiosity, he’d picked one up to try and figure out what the big deal was. He’d opened the magazine straight to a page of very naked overly muscled females and promptly closed it again. That was the last time he would allow his curiosity to get the better of him while in Akaya’s room.

"Come on, I've got some good ones," Akaya teased and closed his eyes, just enjoying the feel of the fingers in his hair. "So you excited about the fireworks?" he asked excitedly and snuggled up to Hiyoshi’s middle a bit more, trying to touch him as much as possible.

“Sure, I trust Gakuto to always put on a good show if nothing else.” Hiyoshi smirked, thinking about his red-headed friend and all of the trouble he used to get into, putting on his ‘shows’. He shook his head resignedly; he really needed to meet new people. Akaya’s warmth against him and the feel of his hair between his fingers was just starting to make him loosen up and unwind a bit when a large booming sound made him jump slightly. The fireworks had started.

Akaya laughed quietly at Hiyoshi’s little jump and looked up to the sky with wide child-like eyes, taking in all of the colors and designs. Gakuto really was amazing at firework shows. "Oh! Look at that one!" he said happily and pointed, then another burst stole his attention, "Did you see that one Wakashi!? It was so cool!!"

Hiyoshi smiled quietly at Akaya’s remarks, nodding his head in agreement. Honestly, the best part of the fireworks was watching Akaya. Tired of supporting himself with his one hand, he let himself fall back onto the blanket and looked up at the lightened sky to enjoy the rest of the show and listen to his lover gush.

"WOAH!!!" Akaya cried out with a big laugh at the finale, "That was awesome!!!" he screamed out to the sky. He sat up afterword, only to lean over and kiss his boyfriend quickly.

“Happy Children’s Day, brat. It is your day after all.” Hiyoshi smirked teasingly while ruffling the brat’s hair. Sitting up, he reached out for the bag that contained a few snacks. “Want anything?”

"Happy Childre--HEY!" The chibi demon glared at his boyfriend and was about to raise more of an argument until he was distracted by food. "Oh! Yeah, what do we have?"

Hiyoshi was silently becoming proud of his ability to distract the brat when needed. “Just a few onigiri and those chocolate bars you insisted on buying.” He reached into the bag to take out an onigiri for himself then passed the bag over. He was also glad he’d decided to bring jackets since he was starting to feel the chill get to him up there on the roof.

"Sweet," Akaya grinned and dug through the bag until he pulled out a chocolate bar and started to unwrap it. He frowned a little and shifted uncomfortably. "It's hot tonight," he mumbled and glared up at the sky. How dare it make his nice night outside hot.

Hiyoshi stopped in his movement to retrieve his jacket and shook his head exasperatedly. Instead, he grabbed Akaya by the back of his shirt and hulled him back towards him. Leaning Akaya up against the cold cement wall behind them, with a slight red hue to his cheeks, he situated himself between Akaya’s legs and leaned back against him. “You seriously have issues with your body heat. Might as well put it to good use.”

Akaya blushed a little at the movement, then smiled and laughed before wrapping his arms around Hiyoshi. "Okay, I'll be your personal heater," he purred happily and munched on his chocolate bar.

Hiyoshi refrained from commenting that Akaya basically already was almost every night, but didn’t want to admit out loud to something so sappy. He relaxed in the arms holding him and ate his onigiri, enjoying the peaceful and comfortable silence that settled over them. It wouldn’t last for long.

"You know," Akaya ruined the silence with a little smirk, "I know another way we could warm you up," he kissed the back of Wakashi’s neck teasingly.

“I’m sure you do, brat.” Hiyoshi rolled his eyes, even as his heart beat sped up slightly, “but right now I’m enjoying the atmosphere, so shut up.” He placed his onigiri wrapper to the side and threaded his fingers through Akaya’s, for heating purposes only of course. His hands were cold.

Akaya chuckled and held Hiyoshi’s hands in his own. "That better?" he asked quietly, whispering against his boyfriend’s ear. He rather liked sitting like this, it was relaxing and the view of the stars was better from here.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hiyoshi muffled, refusing to acknowledge his words even as he felt a wave of contentment fall over him. After a few drawn out minutes of sitting there silently in peace, impressed by Akaya’s continued silence, he finally informed him, “I found out my flight leaves for Singapore next Saturday on the sixteenth in the morning. I should be back by Sunday the thirty-first. I’ll come back earlier if I can, but I doubt it’ll happen.”

"That sucks..." Akaya mumbled and glared at nothing in particular. "I still don't want you to go," he said quietly and nuzzled his boyfriend’s neck. He didn't like that he was going to be left behind for so long. What if Hiyoshi found someone he liked better than him?

“C’mon. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for you to go out and have some fun?” Hiyoshi was trying to make light of the situation, but then his gaze turned serious and he turned to look his boyfriend in the eye. “Though, if you cheat on me…” The intensity of his gaze alone was probably enough to demonstrate just how much shit would go down if he did. Needless to say, it better not happen.

"Why would I cheat on you?" Akaya asked curiously, honestly surprised. "I love you, and you're great in bed. What more can I ask for?" He smiled and turned Hiyoshi’s head just a bit more before kissing him lightly.

Hiyoshi grinned, and his cheeks turned a bit redder at Akaya’s compliment. “I’m just making sure we understand each other,” he said against soft lips. Then his smile turned roguish and his voice lowered. “Okay, now you can warm me up.”


	23. Chapter 23

Journal: Kirihara

I kinda lost it yesterday after the earthquake... When I found out about the dorm... umm... ya know... I didn’t mean to hurt or scare anyone... I… Wakashi was still in there and the senpai-tachi... but um... Well... Wakashi got hurt and we were at the hospital for a long time last night. I don't care what the housing people say. He's staying with me until the dorms are fixed. He just got a bad concussion... and some scrapes and stuff, but...

It looks like everyone else is okay though... The dorm looks like it’s gonna need a lot of work. Fukubuchou texted me and told me he's going to be moving into my dorm. He didn’t say anything else though so maybe I should go check on him... I called all the senpai-tachi to make sure everyone was alright cause I got really worried...

My room is a mess because of everything, but nothing's broken or nothing. Anyway, I'm gonna go take care of Wakashi.

CHAPTER 23

Hiyoshi woke up slowly with a pounding headache. Since the earthquake this had been happening off and on, but the doctors had informed him it might happen. Looking around Akaya’s room, he noticed the other boy wasn’t there. That was odd considering it was nearly impossible to get him to leave him alone since the earthquake. He figured he’d take advantage of the alone time and get up. He’d been assigned a temporary new room since his old dorm had collapsed, but hadn’t even been there once since Akaya had insisted he stay with him instead. It was both absurdly endearing and insanely frustrating that Akaya turned out to be even more protective than he was after getting hurt.

Truth was, he could barely even remember it. He remembered being in his room, only just having arrived there from class, when the ground started shaking and something must have fallen on him. The next thing he remembered was waking up to Akaya freaking out. The rest was a blur of being at the hospital and going between listening to doctors, talking to his parents, and trying to assure Akaya he wasn’t going to die.

Akaya walked into the room with two take out boxes balanced on one arm while the other closed the door. He looked over to see Hiyoshi awake and his face lit up. "You're up! Look! I brought food," he said happily and gestured to the boxes of Japanese food.

He'd been worried sick about Hiyoshi, even though the doctors had assured him he was fine. He'd also had enough concussions to know the symptoms and when it was really bad, so he knew his boyfriend would be fine. But he couldn't stop the nagging voice in his head that kept saying it could have been a lot worse.

When he'd found out about Daidaiiro dorm’s condition, his mind had gone blank and all he remembered of getting to Hiyoshi’s room was pushing a couple people out of the way and snarling at a police officer who tried to stop him from getting into the building. He felt a little bad for that, but he was glad he did. When he'd gotten to his boyfriend’s room, he’d found the other pinned under a bookshelf and unconscious. The rest of their day had been spent with him pacing in a multitude of hospital rooms while Hiyoshi had tests done and got treated. He'd never been so scared in his life and, even now, it was a fight to get him to leave his boyfriend’s side.

Hiyoshi internally groaned. He loved his boyfriend, but he really needed some time to himself for a while. Then he remembered that he would be leaving the day after tomorrow and wouldn’t see his brat for two weeks. That helped change his mind real fast.

“We could go out you know,” he tried to hint, tired of being inside all the time. “Thanks for the food though.” He walked over to help with the food boxes.

"But the doctor said you're supposed to be resting," Akaya grumbled and handed his boyfriend a pair of chopsticks and a paper plate, then started opening up all the boxes to reveal an assortment of different kinds of foods. "Thanks," he mumbled, allowing his boyfriend to help him even though he didn't want him to.

“I have been resting.” Hiyoshi glared up at him from where he sat down at the desk to eat. “I’ve been resting none stop for a week. I don’t think it’s going to kill me to leave the room and go out to dinner. Besides, I need to start moving around. I’ll be teaching classes in three days whether I’m ready or not.” At least Akaya had gotten food that he liked.

"You shouldn't be teaching when you're hurt," Akaya argued with a pouty lower lip as he stuffed a piece of chicken in his mouth. "Tell them what happened. They've gotta excuse you from it."

“I already told you, my father spoke with the hospital regarding that. Apparently he doesn’t believe my injuries warrant canceling the trip. My father would never cancel a class due to a personal physical inadequacy and expects the same from me.” The martial artist had seen his father teach classes multiple times while sick, and even with a sprained arm and ankle. “I can handle it.”

Akaya growled and shoved another chunk of chicken into his mouth before sitting down stubbornly on the floor, mumbling things like 'stupid' and 'dangerous' under his breath. He hated the idea of his boyfriend going to another country in the first place, but going while injured was even worse. He wouldn't be able to watch over him and Hiyoshi had a tendency to not take proper care of himself. He wanted to give the other man’s dad a concussion and see him try and teach classes. That jerk.

Seeing Akaya’s reaction, Hiyoshi sighed. Chewing thoughtfully on the last of his meat and vegetables, he tried to appease him. “I have a friend there. Knowing her, she’ll probably make sure I’m taking care of myself, so you don’t need to worry about that.” He started in on the rice to finish off his dinner.

There was a moment of temporary relief, then Akaya’s brain came up with an image of a girl taking care of Hiyoshi, his Hiyoshi, and his chest tightened up again. "Oh..." he said quietly and focused on his food, obviously pouting.

Now mushroom-headed boy was confused. “What the hell is wrong with you now, brat? Are you that bent out of shape that you won’t be able to play house nurse anymore?” He got up from the desk and made his way over to where Akaya was sitting. He ruffled his hair and rolled his eyes. “Natsumi will kick my ass if anything goes wrong and I can’t teach. She’s fairly good at cooking, too. So I may even eat better while I’m there.” Why was Akaya pouting? He’d just assured him that there would be someone there for him so he wouldn’t worry so much.

Akaya winced and stared down at his food that now tasted like sand. There were a lot of things he could say, but he found nothing would come to his tongue. He opened his mouth to speak and just closed it again. How could his boyfriend not know what was bothering him? He'd just told him that some girl in Singapore was going to take better care of him than he could. How could he not be upset by that?

Akaya wasn’t saying anything and just looking down at his food, so Hiyoshi figured he’d accepted his reasoning. Maybe he was just still upset that he was leaving. The thought made him a little selfishly happy. He ran a hand through Akaya’s hair again with a small smile. “When you’ve finished eating we can go out and see a movie if you want. Or is there anything else you want to do?”

The still pouting demon was tempted to swat away his boyfriend’s hand, but held back. "I'm done," he mumbled flatly and stood up to put the rest of the leftovers in the little fridge. Grabbing out a soda, he cracked it open and watched it fizz out the top. "Whatever is fine..."

Now Hiyoshi frowned. That was a very un-brat-ish thing to say and his tone was odd. Usually, when Akaya had a problem, he just told him, or literally threw it at him. Maybe he had it wrong. Maybe his brat was actually getting tired of him since he’d been taking care of him so much lately, but felt too guilty to leave. “If you would rather go out tonight with someone else… without me, I don’t mind.” He did mind, but the last thing he wanted to do was force Akaya to stay with him, even if he was leaving the day after tomorrow for two weeks.

"Why would I want to do that?" Akaya asked and looked up at Hiyoshi. "Was there someone you wanted to go out with? Or are you just waiting for that stupid girl who's good at cooking?" he snapped and looked back to his soda. He'd never been very good at holding back what was bothering him for very long.

That was more like it. Snappy Akaya he could deal with. Hiyoshi leaned back against the nearest wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “I was just giving you the option in case you’re sick of taking care of me. Are you really that much of an idiot? Of course I prefer being with you, that’s why I asked.” He wasn’t sure why Akaya was suddenly in a bad mood, but he had the mood swings of a girl sometimes and Hiyoshi had learned to cope.

"Yeah, right. You're tired of being with me and just can't wait to go running off to the stupid girl in Singapore. I'm sure she'll take great care of all your needs, huh," Akaya snapped again, frustrated that Hiyoshi was avoiding what was really bothering him.

“What the hell are you on about, brat? Haven’t I told you numerous times that I don’t want to go to Singapore? I don’t have a choice. Yes, I’m sure they’ll take care of me just fine over there, so what’s the problem?” Now he was getting frustrated. Akaya was acting ridiculous and not making any sense.

"Stupid mushroom," The chibi demon growled and set his soda down, too frustrated to drink it. "You don't even get it, do you? Well I'm sorry if I'm not a good cook and don't know how to take care of you like a girl does," he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned down at the ground.

Hiyoshi thought about what Akaya said, then cocked his head to the side and thought about it again. Yes, it still sounded like one of the most idiotic things Akaya had ever said (and he’d said a lot of amazingly idiot things), and it pissed him off. He took a deep breath before patiently walking over to where Akaya was staring holes into the ground. With cold resolve, he reached out and pushed him against the wall, pinning him there, his eyes furious.

“Let’s get something straight right now. I don’t need anyone to take care of me, and I definitely don’t want a fucking girl who will nag at me and cook for me. I am not weak and I let you take care of me because I chose to.” His grip tightened and he made sure Akaya was looking straight back at him. “If you haven’t learned by now that you’re the only one I want then you’re even more of an idiot than I thought.”

"Then don't fucking say stuff like that, asshole!" Akaya snapped and pressed their lips together hungrily, groaning quietly. It sent shivers down his spine when Hiyoshi pushed him around, he knew that probably meant there was something wrong with him, but he couldn't help it. It was even better that Hiyoshi was telling him that he was the only one.

Hiyoshi yanked away from the kiss, not about to be distracted. “Like what?! I don’t remember saying I cared about those things.” Damn, his head hurt even more now from getting angry. He needed some aspirin or something. He wasn’t in the mood for this. He let go of Akaya and lay back down on the bed. “Never mind brat, just go do whatever you want.”

Akaya hated the loss of contact, and expressed so through a grumpy growl to rival one of Sanada’s. "Fine! I will!!" he snapped and grabbed his phone and wallet before walking out of the door and slamming it loudly behind him. If his boyfriend was going to be an ass, fine, he could do it by himself. He would find something else to do. He flipped open his phone and looked at it carefully as he scrolled through his contacts, there had to be someone he could call.

Hiyoshi buried his head in his pillow and groaned when he heard the door slam, signaling Akaya’s exit. He still didn’t understand what he’d said that set him off like that but right now he didn’t have the energy to deal with it, not to mention, he wasn’t about to go running after him like a needy puppy. Akaya would come back eventually after he cooled down. Shit… this really sucked.

He waited hours for Akaya to come back before finally going to bed. He’d considered going out and looking for him, but knew Akaya would come back home when he was ready. It was his room after all. At one point during the night, his father called and told Hiyoshi he needed to go home first before leaving, so now he was leaving the next day instead of the day after. With a frustrated sigh bordering on anger, he pulled the blankets tighter around himself and forced himself not to think about his idiot boyfriend whom he didn’t need to have with him to get a good night’s sleep. It took a while, but he finally fell asleep with a troubled grimace on his face.

It was nearly four in the morning when Akaya came home, buzzed and depressed. He stumbled when he opened the door and tripped over a couple things on the way to the bed, but once he found it, he wrapped himself around Hiyoshi, still fully clothed. "Wakashi," he mumbled quietly and kissed his boyfriend, "I love you," he whispered and drifted to sleep, happy to be back in his lover’s presence.


	24. Chapter 24

Hiyoshi woke up to warmth, and the smell of alcohol. It didn’t take much deduction to figure out where it was coming from. Akaya’s arms were comfortably wrapped around him. After turning in his arms, on closer inspection, it looked as if he’d just collapsed on the bed with his clothes on. Yawning, he idly ran a hand up and down Akaya’s arm that had settled on his chest, the other predictably tangled in the ebony mess of hair. Hiyoshi might have been angry at Akaya’s state and/or about what happened the previous night, but was instead just glad he’d come back before he had to leave. Not wanting to move, he stayed where he was and stared up at the ceiling. He didn’t need to get up for a while anyway.

Akaya looked around his empty room and watched his things slowly disappear one by one. It made his heart ache to watch all of his favorite games disappear, but the thing that bothered him the most was that he couldn't find his boyfriend. Everywhere he looked slowly started to burn and, amongst the flames, he saw his lover reaching out to him and calling out to him, but the sound of the flames drowned his cries out.

In the real world, Akaya whimpered and held onto Hiyoshi tighter. "W-wakashi..." he whispered as a couple tears ran down his face.

“Akaya?” Was he awake? Hiyoshi saw the tears running down his boyfriend’s cheeks from his closed eyes and sighed. Akaya’s nightmares were nothing new to him, and they tended to happen more whenever Akaya drank too much or went to sleep upset. He continued what he hoped was soothing motions and gently shook him. “Akaya. Hey, brat. I’m right here. Wake up.”

The fire burned his fingers as Akaya reached out for his boyfriend’s hand and he screamed, but kept moving his hand forward, trying to reach his burning lover. Just as their hands touched, his eyes shot open and he saw Hiyoshi looking at him worried. More and more tears flowed down his face and he hugged onto his boyfriend, only to sob into his chest. "You're alive," he sobbed, "I'm so glad you didn't burn to death."

What the hell? Hiyoshi’s eyes widened, but wrapped his arms around him in return, squeezing him tightly. “I’m fine. How many times have I told you that they’re just stupid dreams? They don’t mean anything.” He ran his hand through Akaya’s hair again and even kissed the top of his head. “Stop crying. You’re such a brat.” He never knew what to do when Akaya was like this. If it was him, he would rather die than cry in front of anyone, so he didn’t know what to do when others cried in front of him.

Akaya sobbed a bit longer and clung tightly to Hiyoshi. "I-I'm not a brat," he mumbled and finally started to calm down. His body still twitched occasionally as he slowly composed himself and looked up to Hiyoshi with puffy, red, teary eyes. "I'm sorry I got mad Wakashi, I'm really sorry," he said quietly, "Please don't die."

Hiyoshi felt the need to slam his head against a hard surface. But he didn’t want to cause any more damage, so instead just sighed again. Akaya had been like this ever since the earthquake. No matter how many times he told his boyfriend he wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon, it didn’t make a difference. “It doesn’t matter anymore. You’re allowed to get mad. Though… I missed you last night...” Trying to change the mood and distract Akaya from his train of thought, Hiyoshi pulled away from him enough to look at his face. He brushed his tears away with his thumb and gave him his usual smirk. “Good morning, bright eyes.”

Akaya’s eyes got a little wider, then he smiled as a few more tears rolled down his face. "Morning," he said and kissed Hiyoshi slowly. Bad dreams or not, as long as Hiyoshi was there with him, he knew everything would be ok. Ever since the earthquake his dreams had gotten worse and he knew the next two weeks would be torture if he had to face the nights by himself. Maybe he'd spend the nights with his senpai? They wouldn't turn him out would they?

Hiyoshi lay there contentedly, letting Akaya kiss him, answering only with tiny nips. It seemed Akaya was starting to calm down and turn back into the usual brat he was no longer afraid to admit he loved. He didn’t want to tell Akaya that he was leaving in a few hours instead of the next morning. He mentally cursed his father as he moaned softly against Akaya’s lips.

Akaya kissed his boyfriend long and slow, and when he finally pulled away for air, his heart was racing in that nice way that it only did around his boyfriend. "I love you, Wakashi," he smiled and hugged the other man close, "I really do."

“I love you, too.” Hiyoshi answered, slightly breathless from the kiss, and now having the air squeezed out of him. A slight flush was on his face, but he was happy. It felt almost like a relief, finally saying it out straight like that.

Akaya looked up at Hiyoshi with wide eyes. That was the first time he'd ever been so straight forward about it, and it left his face red and his heart pounding loudly in his chest. "Say it again?" he asked as a grin slowly spread across his face.

The teasing reply was automatic. “Say what again?” The flush on Hiyoshi’s cheeks was not going away.

"Say you love me again!" Akaya demanded with a glare, pouting, and moved to sit up and straddle Hiyoshi’s hips.

Hiyoshi promptly rolled them over so he was on top between Akaya’s legs, pinning him to the bed. He nuzzled the brat’s neck and breathed in his scent, which still smelled vaguely of stale bar, but right then he didn’t care. “I love you,” he whispered into his ear conspiratorially, as if it was some grand secret.

Akaya shivered and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s neck. "Mmm… again," he purred happily, loving the way the words rolled off the other man’s lips.

Laughing deeply, Hiyoshi hoisted himself up and raising an eyebrow down at his lover. “How many times would I have to say it before you’re satisfied?”

Akaya loved that sound too, he didn't hear it nearly enough. "A billion times," he said with a big grin and played with the soft hair at the base of Hiyoshi’s neck.

Hiyoshi’s grin stretched across his face. He loved it when Akaya looked at him like that. Feeling happier than he had in a long time, if ever, Hiyoshi couldn’t get the smile off his face.

"I'm gonna be bored after you leave tomorrow..." Akaya mumbled and curled a strand of Hiyoshi’s hair around his finger. He honestly had no idea what he was going to do while his boyfriend was away. He'd have to keep himself busy so he didn't fly off to Singapore after him. Maybe he'd reorganize his room?

“You sound like a bored housewife.” Hiyoshi laughed again teasingly and brushed Akaya’s bangs out of his face. “I’m sure you’ll find something to keep you entertained.”

"Hnn... I guess..." Akaya mumbled and kissed Hiyoshi again lightly. "Maybe I'll go to Disneyland or something..." he teased and stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend, "I'll get you a shirt that says 'dopey' on it or something."

“Disneyland? Isn’t that for little kids and couples? Of course, considering your mental age, it makes sense. I’ve never been there.” A family vacation for the Hiyoshi’s comprised of visiting other dojos and going over seas to visit friends in other dojos.

"No! It's for people of all ages!!" Akaya pouted up at his boyfriend, "You've never been? My parents and I used to go every year! My sister and I would always run off and do our own thing until our parents got those little leashes when I turned twelve..." He reminisced and let out a little nostalgic sigh. "It was so much fun! You'll have to go with me sometime. You'll like it if I take you!"

Hiyoshi seriously doubted that, but he wasn’t going to argue. Tired of holding himself up over Akaya, he settled down onto his chest, his head nestled below his chin. Akaya may act like a five year old, but he certainly wasn’t built like one. He thought this as his hands lightly brushed over Akaya’s defined muscles on his abs and stomach through the shirt he’d worn to bed. “I got a call from my dad last night after you left. I have to leave today instead of tomorrow morning.”

"Eh?!" Akaya’s eyes went wide and he tightened his hold on Hiyoshi. "Why do you have to leave early?" He pouted and glared up at the ceiling. It wasn't fair. Hiyoshi’s dad was trying to kill him. It was official.

“I don’t know. Maybe there’s something he wants me take, or maybe he wants to discuss something before I leave. Whatever the case, I don’t have a choice.” He felt Akaya’s grip on him tighten but only nestled more comfortably on top of him. “What time is it now?” He didn’t want to turn his head to look at the clock on the nightstand.

"Hn? I dunno." Akaya looked over at the clock and blinked a couple times to make the numbers more clear. "Uh... Nine?" he guessed. He couldn't really tell. Maybe it was eight?

Hiyoshi sighed and turned to look at the clock. It was almost nine-thirty. “I should probably leave in about three hours. I haven’t finished packing either.” He knew that meant he needed to get up and start getting ready, but he didn’t want to get off the bed and leave Akaya just yet.

"Damn, this sucks," Akaya mumbled and removed his arms from around Hiyoshi so he could get up. "Can I help at all?"

Hiyoshi frowned when Akaya let go of him. Grudgingly, he sat up and moved to the side of the bed thinking about what Akaya could do. “Yes. You can get up and take a shower with me, you smell like a bar. Then you can stay with me and not leave my side until I have to go.”

Akaya raised an eyebrow and pulled his shirt up to sniff at it. Ew, he did smell like a bar. A nasty mix of smoke and alcohol. He pulled off his shirt and tossed it in his hamper before smiling at Hiyoshi. "Alright, I think I can handle that."

“Good,” The grin returned to Hiyoshi’s face and he grabbed their shower supplies, which was conveniently all together, before they walked out towards the shower rooms.

 

When it came time to leave, Hiyoshi took one last glance around the room to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything. It was odd and almost depressing how empty the room suddenly looked. Due to the earthquake, a lot of his stuff had been trashed, not that he cared since it was easily replaced and half of his belongings had been at Akaya’s anyway. Everything had been packed, a bit messily thanks to Akaya’s help, but it was done and he was ready to go. Now the room looked virtually stripped of all traces of his stay there.

It was hard to believe he’d be going two weeks without seeing his brat. It was also a little daunting. The last time they’d been away from each other for an extended amount of time was for only a week during the last vacation, and neither of them had handled that very well. He could only hope it would be easier this time since they were in a better place with their relationship now than they were then.

Picking up his suitcase, he made his way towards the door. “I’m heading out now.”

Akaya, who'd been standing surveying the depressing sight of his room, nearly fell on his face at Hiyoshi’s abrupt announcement. "Just like that?! You're not going to say goodbye or anything?" he exclaimed, his voice cracking halfway through.

Hiyoshi stopped at the door. He wasn’t very good at goodbyes like this. Putting his suitcase down and pasting on his usual smirk, not wanting to show how miserable he actually was, he turned back towards his boyfriend. “Then come over here and say goodbye to me.”

The sentence wasn't even all the way out of Hiyoshi’s mouth before Akaya’s arms were wrapped around the other man. He held him close with his face against Hiyoshi’s neck. "You better come back to me," he said threateningly, but even to his own ears it sounded more like a plea than a demand.

“Idiot...” Hiyoshi murmured fondly, reaching up to thread and run his hand through Akaya’s hair, the other going around his waist to hold him closer. He didn’t want to think about how much he was going to miss him. Damn it, it was only two weeks! “I’ll call you when I have time.”

“Okay..." Akaya murmured back and nodded a little. He hated that Hiyoshi was leaving him again, but it was only two weeks, right? What kind of loser was he if he couldn't handle two weeks away from his boyfriend?

The martial artist had been determined not to get sappy, and then Akaya had to get all cute on him. Not knowing what else to say, his hand moved from Akaya’s hair to his chin, directing his lips to his. He kissed him hungrily, feeling very possessive, wanting to show Akaya without words whom he belonged to. Then he pulled back long enough to look at Akaya’s face before leaning back in to this time kiss him softly, and even lovingly. He was never very good with words, but he hoped he could at least get his point across through actions.

Akaya let out a little groan at the possessive kiss, and felt like crying at the soft gentle kiss. He'd never been good at understanding subtle, but he knew his boyfriend well enough to understand loud and clear. He pulled away from the kiss after a couple minutes reluctantly. "You gotta get goin' don't you?" he smiled a bit and patted Hiyoshi on the hip. "Come on, I'll walk ya out. You takin a taxi or the train?"

“Taxi. It’s easier with luggage and faster.” If he’d taken the trains, he would have had to leave an hour earlier. Letting go of Akaya, Hiyoshi backed away reluctantly and picked up his suitcase again. “You don’t need to walk me out. You should try to take a nap or something since you didn’t get much sleep last night.” He also didn’t want to watch Akaya standing on the sidewalk as he drove away. The whole scenario left him feeling like there was a lead weight in his stomach.

"I'm fine," Akaya mumbled and shoved one hand in his pocket while the other rubbed at his neck and tangled in his hair. "I wanna walk out with ya. I'll sleep later." He opened the door for his boyfriend and waited expectantly.

Hiyoshi sighed and gave in to the inevitable. It wasn’t worth arguing over since he knew he wasn’t going to convince Akaya otherwise. Walking out the door and into the hallway, he checked his phone to make sure the taxi service had arrived. It had.

After closing the door behind them and walking out of the dorm, it only took a minute to reach the taxi and load his luggage into the trunk. Hiyoshi gave Akaya’s hand a small squeeze while the taxi driver wasn’t looking before getting into the back seat.

Akaya didn't realize he was holding his breath until Hiyoshi sat down in the back seat and his lungs burned. After taking another breath he found he was shaking a little. "I love--" he paused when he noticed the taxi driver looking at him oddly and rubbed the back of his neck, "mushrooms." He forced a little laugh and the driver looked away like Akaya was just another crazy college kid. He just prayed his boyfriend knew that he would always be his favorite mushroom.

Hiyoshi couldn’t help a small chuckle and shook his head. He mouthed the words “I love you too, brat” as they pulled away from the curve and drove away.

Akaya watched the car with a little smile and waved lamely until it turned the corner. He looked at his hand that was still waving stupidly and let it fall to his side, his little forced smile long gone. "Two weeks, huh?" he mumbled and started toward the dorms. What the hell was he going to do for two weeks?


	25. Chapter 25

It was the end of Hiyoshi’s second day in Singapore and he finally had a few free moments to call Akaya before he went to bed. After arriving, he’d only had time for a brief re-introduction with the Tanaka family and a quick meal before immediately going out to the dojo for classes. Exhausted after only the first day, he‘d only had time for dinner with the family before collapsing in the guest bedroom and slept straight until the alarm went off the next morning.

It was one in the morning in Japan, and Akaya had class the next day, but Hiyoshi didn’t care. He hated to admit it, but he really wanted to hear his brat’s voice. It had only been three days. He punched in the long distance number on his cell phone and waited eagerly for a response.

Akaya had been staring at his ceiling for three hours trying to sleep, but it was too hot and he didn't have Hiyoshi around to steal his heat. At least, that was how he tried to rationalize the insomnia he'd had since his boyfriend left. He rolled over for the umpteenth time and stared at his clock. What time was it in Singapore? Maybe he could call Hiyoshi. Maybe that would help him sleep. He frowned though when he realized he didn't have his boyfriend’s number and his cell phone probably didn’t work over there. Or it would be really expensive or… something. He picked up his phone to try it anyway, but as soon as his fingers touched it, the phone rang and he yelped, falling off the bed.

He pushed the button and held it to his ear, "Hello?"

“Hi.” The moment the phone line had started to ring, Hiyoshi remembered how bad he was at talking on the phone. He wasn’t sure what to say if Akaya actually answered. But when he heard Akaya’s voice on the other end of the line, he instantly relaxed and forgot to be bothered.

"Wakashi!" Akaya cried happily then blushed and cleared his throat. "Er, I mean... Hey..." He climbed back up onto the bed and brought his knees to his chest to wrap an arm around them. "How's Singapore?" he wasn't going to say how much he missed him or that he'd just been thinking about him. That would be lame and sappy and... "I miss you..." Damn it.

Hiyoshi’s mouth twitched up into a small smile. “Busy. There’s a lot of work to do.” It was really pathetic how just hearing the brat’s voice made his entire body feel a little lighter. He could perfectly picture in his head what Akaya probably looked like right then and unconsciously held the phone closer to his ear. “I miss you, too,” he whispered into the phone, barely loud enough to be heard on the other end. “I’m sorry for calling so late if I woke you up.”

The chibi demon almost missed what his boyfriend said. Almost. He smiled and shook his head. "No, you didn't. Don't worry about it. What time is it there anyway? Is it late?"

“You’re only an hour ahead of me, so it’s a little after midnight here. I can’t talk for long since I have to wake up early in the morning, and you have class.” Hiyoshi hated how awkward he sounded over the phone. Most of his communication was done through gestures and expressions, and they both sucked at verbal communication most of the time, unless used for insults.

"Oh, okay." Akaya’s smile stayed firmly in place and he flopped onto his side, his knees still pressed to his chest. "I can sleep in class, but I don't wanna keep you up too late." It was enough just to hear the other man’s voice for now, to hear him say he missed him. It was relaxing to know he wasn't the only one.

“You shouldn’t be sleeping in class, idiot. This isn’t high school.” Hiyoshi shook his head half amusedly, half exasperated. Seriously, how Akaya wasn’t flunking, he had no idea.

"My teachers are boring anyway. It's their own fault," Akaya mumbled and smiled at the tone of his boyfriend’s voice. If he closed his eyes he could imagine his expression and that brought a little laugh to the surface.

“Don’t blame others for your own shortcomings, brat,” Though it was a lecture, Hiyoshi was fairly certain Akaya could hear the fondness in his voice. Realizing he still hadn’t changed for the night, he stood the bed. “Hold on while I get changed for bed.” He put the phone down to remove his shirt and pants, but thought he heard something coming from Akaya’s end so picked it back up again while retrieving his pajama pants. “What was that?”

"Nothing," Akaya laughed again, though he really wished he could see his boyfriend undressing. It was always one of his favorite things to watch.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes as he tried to keep the phone to his ear while putting his pajama pants on one handed. “By the way, you suck at packing. I couldn’t find anything in my suitcase yesterday.”

"That's just cause you weren't paying attention when I told you where everything was." Akaya chided but couldn't get the big smile off his face.

“You mean there was some kind of order to that mess? I found my tooth brush and paste rolled up in my pajama pants.” It actually amused Hiyoshi how bad Akaya’s packing was, but he wasn’t going to tell him that.

"It was so they were protected and wouldn't get squished, dummy," Akaya mumbled and stuck his tongue out at the phone. His packing was amazing.

“Whatever you say brat.” Hiyoshi would have argued that you can’t squish a toothbrush and it would have been fine with the rest of his bathroom supplies, but he wasn’t going to bother. Sitting down on the bed, he could almost imagine it was any other night talking to Akaya before going to sleep. “Why haven’t you gone to sleep yet? Did you go out or get sucked into another video game?”

Crap. He couldn't tell Hiyoshi he wasn't sleeping, so Akaya smiled and laughed, lying perfectly. "Heh heh, yeah, I got into playing top spin on the wii. I just took out Federer, You should have seen it! Too bad I can't go blood shot in a video game..."

Hiyoshi smirked and lay down. “Try not to stay up too late. Don’t you have tennis practice?”

"Yeah I know, don't worry, I'll be fine. I've survived through practice with buchou and fukubuchou on no sleep before. It's hard but I can do it," Akaya said honestly and winced at the memory. The two demons knew when he'd stayed up too late and made him work extra hard those days. Oh well, Wakashi was worth it.

Hiyoshi’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean no sleep? Are you not sleeping again?” He sighed, already knowing the answer. Akaya may be a good liar, but he knew his boyfriend.

Well... fuck. "No, I'm sleeping, just not a lot..." Akaya admitted quietly and covered his eyes with his hand.

“Idiot.” He should have known… Hiyoshi was sleeping alright since his body was so exhausted after the long days, but to be honest, his eating habits (despite Natsumi and the family’s efforts) hadn’t been good since he left. Why take-out and even greasy fast food with Akaya there seemed more palatable than a home-cooked meal, Hiyoshi would never understand.

"Don't call me an idiot," The insomniac boy grumbled, "You're probably not eating right, so don't gimme crap for having trouble sleeping." He knew his boyfriend and he remembered the break. He knew what Wakashi did when he wasn't there to watch him.

The martial artist wasn’t going to validate that with a response, knowing that no matter what he said, Akaya would know the truth. Instead, he gave an audible sigh and stared at the ceiling, just listening to Akaya’s soft breathing from the other end of the line.

"I wish you weren't in stupid Singapore..." Akaya mumbled and stared at the wall.

Hiyoshi hadn’t meant for the conversation to go in this direction. “Are you lying down?”

"Yeah..." Akaya said and looked at where Hiyoshi normally slept. His bed was cold and he hated it.

“First off, stretch out. You’re never going to get any sleep if you’re all scrunched up. Lay on your side away from my side of the bed.” Hiyoshi’s voice was commanding. This was not a request.

Akaya frowned. He didn't like being bossed around, especially on the phone. Still, he did as he was told and rolled over and laid out fully. Making his legs tingle as the blood rushed back to them.

Hiyoshi could hear Akaya moving around and knew his brat must be exhausted if he was following his directions so easily. “Rest the phone against your ear and try to relax.” Akaya might laugh at him for this later, but he didn’t particularly care at the moment.

"Why the--" Akaya sighed and did as he was told. "Alright, now what?" he grumbled grouchily.

“Just shut up and listen.” Hiyoshi bit out embarrassed. He took a calming breath and in a low steady voice started recapping everything that had happened since he arrived in Singapore, including details of the house and the classes. “I arrived at the dojo yesterday afternoon. I was taken directly to the main house next to the dojo where I got re-acquainted with the Tanaka’s before I was given a short tour of the house. It’s very similar to my parent’s house…”

Akaya blinked as Hiyoshi started talking, then smiled and closed his eyes to listen. As his boyfriend’s story continued, he felt his body relaxing and yawned.

Hiyoshi wasn’t used to talking so much. By the time he had run out of things to say, his mouth and throat were uncomfortably dry. Trying to be as normal as possible, he finished with, “I’m tired, brat. Sleep now.”

"Mm... It's nice when you talk so much Wakashi," Akaya murmured quietly with another big yawn. "But okay... Sleep time... I love you..."

If Akaya could see him, he would have seen Hiyoshi’s cheeks color at the comment, and a small smile on his lips. “I love you, too. Goodnight,” he whispered back and tried hard to hold back his own answering yawn, waiting for Akaya to hang up the phone.

"I miss you..." The sleepy demon mumbled and smiled a little, "a lot. So... Come home soon... I'll be waiting..." With that, he hung up the phone and immediately fell asleep. It wasn't good sleep by any means, but it was the only sleep he'd had since his boyfriend left.

The smile didn’t leave Hiyoshi’s face and he continued to hold the phone up to his ear even after he heard Akaya hang up. It wasn’t until the annoying beeping started that he finally closed the phone and resigned himself to another night of sleep without Akaya beside him. He was going to regret staying up this late in the morning, but it had been worth it. The ridiculous things he did for his boyfriend.


	26. Chapter 26

Natsumi was being annoying. She had been on Hiyoshi’s case about everything since he got there; his manners, his clothes, his eating habits… even if she had a good reason for that one. The one thing she hadn’t chastised him about was his teaching, which he was grateful for. One of the few times he’d given a hint of a smile was when she’d complimented him on one of his classes with the younger kids.

Despite all the annoyances, Hiyoshi was glad she was there. They had known each other their whole lives, had a lot in common, and she kept him busy and distracted, not letting him think too much about how much he missed Akaya. The only time it became really difficult was at night before he slept, which usually he was so exhausted after the day that he didn’t stay awake that long anyway. Tonight was an exception. His classes were over for the day and Natsumi had gone off with a few of her girlfriends. It was only nine o’clock, making it ten in Japan.

He’d called Akaya a few times since their first conversation the previous week, but had either had to leave a message or both of them were so busy that the conversations were cut short. Akaya would probably be out, but he figured it was worth a try. He dialed the number and hoped he wouldn’t get an answering machine again.

Not having Hiyoshi around was troublesome in many ways, a certain curly haired demon had realized. He couldn't sleep well, he was bored out of his mind, and he was horny. Damn it. His magazines just didn't cut it anymore. He didn't even have the drive to use his toys, so he settled for doing things the old fashioned way. He had his eyes closed and was imaging his boyfriend’s hand on his dick instead of his own. He was almost there… when his phone rang.

Normally he would just let it ring, but this was a special ring, Hiyoshi’s ring. He grabbed the phone with his free hand, not stopping his right hand’s motions as he answered. "Hey," he said, voice a bit strained and breathy, "Are you alone?" he asked quickly. This wouldn't work if other people were around. Well, he didn't care, but he was sure Hiyoshi would.

When Akaya picked up the phone, Hiyoshi noticed something was a bit strange in his tone. “Hi. Yes, I’m alone in my room. Why?” That was an odd thing to ask. Was something wrong?

"Have phone sex with me," Akaya moaned quietly. It had been a long time since he'd had phone sex with anyone and he was pretty sure he would be Hiyoshi’s first phone partner.

There were many things Hiyoshi had expected Akaya to say, that was not even close to one of them. He gulped hard, his eyes growing wide, and they strayed to the side even though there was nothing to avoid looking at. “Phone sex…?” He would have asked if he was kidding, but this was Akaya he was talking to. “Right now?”

"Yeah." Akaya shivered and bit back another groan, not quite ready to stop his hand motions just yet, though he did slow down. It wouldn't be very good phone sex if he came right away, now would it?

Hiyoshi could already feel his pulse starting to race and he quickly went to his bedroom door to make sure it was locked, just in case. Did this mean that Akaya had been…? Was that why he sounded like that? “Akaya… are you…?” He didn’t know how to finish that question.

"Touching myself?" the curly-haired demon finished for him with a little breathless chuckle. "Yeah... I was thinking about you," he closed his eyes again and smiled. He loved catching his boyfriend off guard. "And you're blushing now..."

The thought of Akaya touching himself while thinking of him made Hiyoshi’s lower regions suddenly jump to attention rather quickly. He could feel the blood rushing through his body, but the majority of it definitely wasn’t going to his face. “I…” He sat down on the bed and tried to take deep even breaths. It had only been a little more than a week since he had been with Akaya. It shouldn’t be this difficult to keep his body in check. “Idiot…” Even he could hear the low roughness in his voice.

Akaya smiled devilishly. He knew that tone and knew what it meant. "I thought about your hand on me, touching me, stroking me hard and fast, just how I like it," he mumbled and spread his legs a bit more. "Touch yourself. We can come together..."

Hiyoshi almost threw the phone across the room in embarrassment… almost. Akaya was so... This was exactly what he should have expected. “Hold on, brat. I haven’t even changed yet. Unless you wanna go on ahead without me.” He chuckled, not believing he was going to do this, hadn’t even put up a fight for that matter. The least he could do was make it hard on his nymphomaniac boyfriend.

"Nn... You don't need to. Just slip your hand under whatever you're wearing... I don’t wanna wait..." Part of him couldn't believe Hiyoshi was going to do this with him, but Akaya was definitely excited.

“Too bad. It’s your own fault for starting without me. Or are you just that needy for me?” Grinning, Hiyoshi started to undo the buttons on his shirt. “It would be too uncomfortable anyway since I’m wearing the tight pants you packed for me.”

"So what if I am?" Akaya groaned, but he had a smile on his face. "You look good in those pants..." he purred and paused in his stroking to wait for his lover.

“Good.” Hiyoshi thought that he was feeling rather needy too, but wasn’t willing to verbalize it. “How needy are you exactly?” He asked with a sadistic grin on his face as he continued to divest himself of his clothing. He loved testing Akaya’s patience in these situations, and he had a feeling Akaya loved it too.

"Mm… That’s a secret." Akaya’s smile turned to a smirk and he repressed a chuckle. "How needy are you, Wakashi? I can hear it in your voice, you know? That little rough scratchy sound. It means you want me."

Clothes finally removed, Hiyoshi leaned back comfortably against the bed’s head bored. He could practically hear the smirk on his boyfriend’s face, and his free hand went automatically to the throbbing heat between his legs. His breath hitched slightly at the contact, but he wouldn’t let it distract him. “Sorry, I don’t disclose information that is mutually being withheld from me.” Strokes were light, meant only to pacify his body for now. “Hmm… but I will tell you what I want to do…”

"Oh?" Akaya said with a little chuckle, "and what is it you want to do?" He questioned, finally bringing his hand around himself again. He hadn't missed the little hitch in Hiyoshi’s breathing.

With unexpected ease, Hiyoshi’s eyes closed and images of what he’d wanted all week automatically supplied themselves to his brain and the words came spilling out of his mouth before he even had a chance to be embarrassed. “I want to pull you close… Feel your warm breath on my face… Run my hands slowly through your hair… I… want to kiss you… On your nose, chin, cheeks, anywhere my lips can reach… except for your lips… which by now are probably pouting at me.” He smirked as he thought of Akaya’s pout. “You’re cute when you pout.” He could see it so clearly in his head that his lips ached for Akaya’s.

It was Akaya’s turn for his breath to catch. "Mm... You always do that... Tease me like that..." He said softly and started stroking himself slowly and teasingly just like how Hiyoshi would be touching him. "And I want to just ravish you until you're moaning under me. Leave little marks all over your body so that everyone knows you're mine. Kiss and bite your neck and down your chest until I reach your dick, mm... I want to taste you Wakashi..." He licked his lips and tried to fight back the sudden craving for something salty.

A harsh moan sounded in the back of Hiyoshi’s throat and all of a sudden he couldn’t seem to think straight; too engrossed in the image Akaya had set up for him. He sunk further into the bed, sprawling as though he expected Akaya to accost him at any moment. “I…” Hiyoshi blushed harder as his hand automatically started to trace the path Akaya had described. “I want to touch you…” He forgot to feel mortified at what he was letting escape and the image he probably made on the bed. “I want you to touch me…”

"I want to suck on you hard and finger you until you can't take it anymore," Akaya purred and spread his legs a bit further as his strokes got more firm and a bit faster. "I want to make you come and moan my name. I love it when you say my name like that..."

Hiyoshi’s grip strengthened as he pumped himself faster and harder. Akaya’s voice was crashing over him in waves, making his body respond and ache as if he was actually there touching him, driving him crazy. He turned onto his side away from the door to try and quiet the desperate moans in the back of his throat. “Fucking brat… Akaya…” He was so close. He could feel the build up and clung to the bed sheets as if they were his brat.

Akaya arched up off the bed, one hand clinging to the phone tightly while the other tugged his length roughly. Hiyoshi’s voice sent shivers through him and he was already plunging over the edge as he let out loud moan of "Wakashi!" His body quivered and he came over his chest, stomach, and hand.

That was it; Hiyoshi groaned out Akaya’s name slowly and muffled it as best he could with a pillow as his movements became jerky and unreserved. He rode out the waves of pleasure coursing through him. Later, he wouldn’t be able to think back on this without turning bright red and dragging Akaya off somewhere for some private time. It took at least a full minute to get his breathing back under control enough to speak, but when he opened his eyes again, there was no warm presence there, no Akaya looking back at him. A sudden loneliness overtook him worse than before. “Damn it… I fucking hate this.”

Turning to Hiyoshi’s side of the bed, Akaya smiled at first but then realized he wasn't there and his heart ached. He nodded in agreement with Hiyoshi’s statement. "I hate it too... I want to kiss you and hug you..." He mumbled quietly and felt something warm and wet roll down his face. He reached up and rubbed the tear away. He wasn't allowed to cry and be stupid and girly until he was off the phone.

The tone in Akaya’s voice made Hiyoshi’s hand automatically move up as if to caress a cheek that wasn’t there. “Me too, but I’ll be back soon. You’ll have to make me one of your terrible breakfasts.” A small smile came to his face as he thought of Akaya’s proud yet nervous smiles whenever he attempted to serve him food he made himself.

Akaya could almost feel Hiyoshi’s hand on his cheek and another couple tears escaped. "My breakfasts aren't terrible, asshole," he smiled and bit back on the little sob. "You'll see! I'll serve you the best breakfast ever! Just you wait!"

“I’ll hold you to that, brat. I’m looking forward to it.” Hiyoshi knew he should be going soon. He was a mess and needed to take a shower and clean up before Natsumi came home. She would never let him live it down otherwise. Plus, he had another early day tomorrow.

"I'll do it," Akaya mumbled and rubbed at his tears, "So you better come home soon safe and sound so I can make it for you." He smiled and held his phone tightly, like it was his one lifeline, which in a way it was. Somehow his world had become focused around Hiyoshi and he hadn't even noticed how dull it was without him there or how empty it felt.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Hiyoshi agreed and chuckled over the line, finding it amusing that Akaya just threatened him to come home safely so that he could feed him toxic food. “Akaya…” He was just pathetically stalling for time now and knew it. He didn’t want to say goodbye and was resentfully aware of the fact that the moment he hung up he would become depressed again. “You better be taking proper care of yourself over there, or else…”

Akaya smiled and laughed. "You're one to talk. I always take great care of myself," he said only half sarcastic. Other than less than optimum sleep he took good care of himself. He ate right and exercised. Then again, he exercised more than he should on no sleep, but he was just so damned bored.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll trust you. But if I come home and find out you’re lying to me again, I’ll make you regret it.” Hiyoshi not taking proper care of himself was one thing, Akaya not taking care of himself was completely different.

Akaya smiled from ear to ear. "Yes, sir," he teased and held the phone tight against his ear. He knew he'd have to hang up but he didn't want to. He didn't want to lose his boyfriend’s soothing voice and be alone again.

“Just a few more days, brat...” Hiyoshi reassured softly under his breath. He wasn’t sure which of them he was trying to comfort. “I think the first thing I want to do when I get home is go to our park. We haven’t been there in a while.”

"Alright!" Akaya said happily, then paused, "First thing though, I'm kissing you and giving you a huge hug," he stated and rolled to his back to look up at the ceiling and tried to count the bumps and dips on it, "but we should definitely go. I wanna go on the swings. I think I figured out a way to get it going fast enough that I can flip all the way over the bar."

“You’re trying to give me a heart attack, aren’t you?” Hiyoshi groaned.

"Come on, it'll be awesome!" Akaya teased, imagining the look on the other man’s face.

“No, it would be reckless, but if you’re so intent on making your boyfriend endure heart failure and injure yourself in the process, then by all means. Do what you want.” The tone was sarcastic and the mushroom-headed boy rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't fall! The centri--centrifu--centrifi---the centri-force thing would keep me on the swing! Like a roller coaster," Akaya laughed and closed his eyes to just listen to Hiyoshi’s voice.

Laughing, Hiyoshi just shook his head again. “You’re an idiot.”

"Yeah yeah, you're dating the idiot, idiot," There was a little laugh that sounded suspiciously like a giggle.

That was a good point. “Yeah, I’m still trying to figure out why that is exactly. Maybe I’ll figure it out soon so your idiotism’s stop rubbing off on me.”

"Heh heh," Akaya laughed again. He knew they should get off the phone, they should've gotten off the phone twenty minutes ago, but he didn't want to.

Hiyoshi sighed, feeling the conversation coming to its reluctant end. “Time to go to sleep, brat. You have school in the morning.” He sounded like a father lecturing his six-year-old son.

"I don't want to go..." Akaya mumbled and rolled to his side to glare at Hiyoshi’s spot on the bed.

“Did I say you had a choice?” Hiyoshi could imagine Akaya glaring at him and the thought made him smile.

"You suck. You better come home soon. The bed’s too warm when you're not here." Akaya mumbled while glaring at the sheets. Hiyoshi was like sleeping with an ice pack and he loved it.

That was such an odd endearing comment, but it still made Hiyoshi’s heart tighten in his chest. “Akaya…” He closed his eyes and whispered barely loud enough to be heard. “I love you.”

The pouting boy stopped and smiled, closing his eyes, all thoughts of ice packs gone. "I love you too, Wakashi..."

“Then do as I say, and go to sleep.” Hiyoshi moved off the bed so he could take his quick shower. “Good night.”

"Good night..." Akaya said quietly and waited. He wasn't going to hang up first. He didn't think he could if he tried. When had he gotten so pathetic?

Hiyoshi waited for the click signaling Akaya had hung up, but it never came. With one last small chuckle and shake of his head, he whispered one last quiet goodnight before forcing himself to hang up the phone. The sound of the phone closing gave a resounding clack to his ears and suddenly the room seemed cold and silent. “Only five more days…” he reassured himself as he grabbed his robe and shower supplies, walking out of the room.

Akaya heard the phone disconnect and closed his slowly. He set it on the nightstand and stared at it for a while before getting up to play Street Fighter IV. It was gonna be another one of those long nights.


	27. Chapter 27

Hiyoshi was finally home. The minute he’d been given the okay to return back to Japan, he’d jumped on the first available flight, arriving back a little less than a day early. It was Saturday late evening and he felt a rush of relief when he arrived at Akaya’s door. He’d tried to call his boyfriend a few times before he left to let him know he would be back early, but the damn brat’s phone had gone straight to voice mail every time.

Knocking, the mushroom headed boy waited, but received no response. Impatient, he set down his suitcase and took out the extra key to the room they’d had made for him after the earthquake. He’d expected Akaya to be asleep, or indulging in a video game, but instead found a very messy room with no Akaya in sight. Resisting the urge to throw something, he put his stuff down and waited impatiently for his boyfriend to come home.

If he sat down, Hiyoshi knew he would fall asleep. To keep himself awake, he began picking up the mess that had become of Akaya’s room. Video games, clothes, take-out, even school books were strewn everywhere. He was surprised but grateful the porn and sex toys weren’t part of the mess as well.

Once the place looked livable again, he looked over at the clock and saw it was already past ten o’clock. Once again resisting the urge to throw something, specifically the clock, he lay down on his side of the bed and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. Akaya’s scent was all around him and it was warm. It took mere seconds for him to reluctantly drift off into the most comfortable sleep he’d had in two weeks.

Practice was over and Akaya was bored out of his mind. He'd just taken a two hour long shower and was on his way back to his room. He'd recently gotten scolded for walking around the halls naked and now he had to have a stupid towel wrapped around his waist. Now he had to carry two towels to the shower because he always dried his hair on the way back to his room. "Man, this sucks...." he mumbled, in a bad mood. The past two weeks had been hell, but at least they were almost over. He opened the door to his room and tossed the towel from around his waist onto the bed.

He walked around his room naked while finishing drying his hair then found a pair of boxers to wear. All he could think about was that his boyfriend would be home soon and things would be back to normal. He'd be able to sleep again instead of staying up all night reading manga and playing video games to fill the time. After his hair was dry enough, he tossed the other towel across the room and grabbed then next volume of Hellsing to read. He'd reread the series five times in the past week, but damn it, he'd been bored. Finally, he walked over to the bed and noticed a body on it.

Frowning, Akaya wondered who the hell was sleeping in his bed. Hiyoshi was in Singapore and no one else usually showed up in his room. It had to be one of his senpai or something. The body looked oddly familiar though. "Oi, Senpai! Don't sleep in my--" he paused as he pulled the towel away to reveal his boyfriend. "Wakashi?" He had to be dreaming... right? Akaya bit his lower lip and pinched himself on the arm. After letting out a little pained yelp, he felt his eyes water up and he jumped onto his boyfriend. "WAKASHIIIIII~~~!!!!!!"

Eyes sprang open as both Hiyoshi’s body and ears were attacked by a wailing chibi demon. Before he could react, he was already in a vice like grip that efficiently deprived him of both movement and oxygen. “I can’t breathe, brat,” he rasped out in an annoyed, sleepy voice, but it was completely outdone by the grin on his face.

"Welcome home!" Akaya cried and held on tighter to his boyfriend. He buried his face against the other man’s neck and smiled from ear to ear. He wasn't dreaming. Hiyoshi was really home and early too. It was the best surprise ever.

Managing to pull one of his arms free from the iron grasp, Hiyoshi brought it up and around Akaya to bury in wet curls and scratch contently at the back of his neck. “I’m home.” He placed a small kiss on his curly head. “Where have you been?”

"I was practicing and taking a shower," Akaya explained and kept crying quietly against the other man’s shoulder. "You're home early," he said in disbelief and kissed his cheek, then lips possessively, a couple tears still in his eyes.

Hiyoshi leaned up into the kiss, savoring the taste and feel of them against his. Two weeks was entirely too long. He pulled away, still placing small kisses on Akaya’s nose and lips while he fondly brushed the stray tears away. “What are you crying for? You’re supposed to be happy to see me.” He chuckled lightly. “You’re such a brat…” It was his turn to pull the other boy down against him till Akaya was lying completely on top of him on the bed. “I missed you.”

"I am happy, stupid," Akaya mumbled and rubbed at his eyes. "I missed you, too." He snuggled up against Hiyoshi and kissed him again, slowly and sensually. He'd missed him more than words could express. He felt like a needy idiot because of it, but he couldn't help it. That was what Hiyoshi did to him.

Hiyoshi rolled them over, kissing him back heatedly. Akaya was such a sap sometimes. Hiyoshi could be too, but he wasn’t going to acknowledge it. Not having any clothing in the way, his hands lightly explored the familiar area of Akaya’s chest and sides, anywhere he could reach. His lips pulled dominantly and demandingly at Akaya’s. He could have taken him right then and there, but when he pulled back momentarily to catch his breath, the up close view of Akaya stopped him. Hiyoshi’s eyes immediately changed to stare daggers down at his boyfriend. Akaya looked paler than he remembered, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

When Hiyoshi rolled on top of him, something seemed off. The chibi demon noticed Hiyoshi glaring at him and glared right back angrily. "You're too light," he growled. His boyfriend hadn't been eating correctly, even when he'd said he had. He flipped them back over and glared down at him. "You haven't been eating. You're going to make yourself sick, stupid!" he snapped grouchily.

Akaya’s words angered him and Hiyoshi roughly flipped them over again. “At least I don’t look like I haven’t seen the sun or slept in a month.” He gestured towards the bed and bit out sarcastically, “Bed, Akaya. Akaya, bed. Nice you two have finally met again.”

Akaya rolled them back over and growled. "Don't give me that shit! You look like a damn teenage female model," he snapped and glared angrily down at his boyfriend again.

“I do not! You sleep deprived idiot. You look like an addict going through withdrawals!” Hiyoshi hollered and flipped them over yet again, this time attempting to pin Akaya’s arms down so he couldn’t roll them over any more.

"It's your fault! You're the one who went to stupid Singapore!" Akaya pulled his legs up a bit and lifted his hips to knock his boyfriend off balance before rolling them again, this time though, they rolled right off the bed and he landed with his back to the floor and Hiyoshi against his chest. He coughed as the air was knocked out of him and groaned. "Ow... fuck..." He opened his eyes to look at Hiyoshi. "Are you alright?"

Hiyoshi cursed as they fell and tried to make it so not all his weight landed on Akaya. “I’m fine, idiot.” He looked him over as well to make sure he was okay before rolling his eyes and sitting up. “I’m sorry if it’s my fault,” he mumbled. True, it hadn’t been his choice to go as he’d told Akaya repeatedly, but that still didn’t change the fact that he’d gone. Defensive still, he added, “And it’s not like I didn’t eat anything. I know exactly how much I have to eat in order to teach classes.” So what if he had skipped a few meals as long as he could still do his job?

"Just eating enough to survive isn't enough, idiot," Akaya mumbled as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "You're going to make yourself sick and make all your muscle deteriorate." He didn't want to admit he'd actually paid attention in nutrition recently so that he'd know how to feed Hiyoshi food that was good for him. He'd even taken a couple cooking classes while his boyfriend had been away.

Not wanting to get any angrier, Hiyoshi crossed his arms and conceded in a sarcastic tone, “Fine. Maybe I could have taken better care of myself. But tell me, Mr. Expert, have you managed any better?” He narrowed his eyes at Akaya, daring him to say other wise.

"At least I fucking ate," Akaya mumbled and crossed his arms over his chest before leaning back against the night stand. Losing a bit of sleep was nothing compared to not eating enough.

This was going nowhere and wasn’t doing either of them any good. “Come here, idiot.” Hiyoshi extended his hand out for Akaya to take.

With a stubborn frown in place, Akaya took his boyfriend’s hand and moved over to sit next to him, pressed up close to his side.

“I don’t want to argue over this tonight. We can get mad at each other again tomorrow if you want, but right now, I’d much rather enjoy what’s left of the evening.” Keeping Akaya’s hand in his, Hiyoshi sighed and waited to see what Akaya would do.

"Alright..." Was the demon brat’s softly reply before he moved to straddle his boyfriend’s hips, "I’m glad you're home. I've missed you..." he murmured and buried his face against Hiyoshi’s neck.

Hiyoshi was glad Akaya had agreed to drop it and gave a relieved sigh. “You already said that.” He ran his hand through Akaya’s hair and chuckled lightly, “I think our lives are becoming repetitive.” He kissed the side of Akaya’s head, amused. “I missed you, too.”

"This better not become some habit of yours," Akaya mumbled and held onto Hiyoshi tightly, "Running off to other countries and leaving me behind..." The least his lover could do was take him along. He was a big boy; he could take care of himself over seas, even if he didn't speak the language or know anyone.

Hiyoshi snickered, that wasn’t what he was talking about, but it didn’t matter. “I won’t be ‘running off’ to any other countries any time soon.” He assured. “This was a special case.” He would go into more details about it later… maybe, but first he just wanted to relax and spend time with his brat. “What would you like to do? I believe I promised you a trip to the park, though we can hold that off until tomorrow if you would rather get some sleep first or… anything else you have in mind.”

"Good," Akaya mumbled and sat back a bit to look Hiyoshi over. As his boyfriend continued, a big smile found its way onto his face. "Let’s save the park for tomorrow. I'm sure we can find a way to entertain ourselves tonight." The spark in his eyes proclaimed proudly that his ideas of entertainment were not exactly rated E for everyone and probably not fit for the children’s park, even if it was the middle of the night. Though on second thought, swings could be fun.

Hiyoshi knew that look. It meant the two of them definitely weren’t going to be sleeping any time soon. Which was a bad thing of course since Akaya really needed his sleep. That hadn’t been what he’d had in mind when suggesting doing something else. Well… maybe it had. Shit. He was already leaning forward to kiss his boyfriend fervently with barley contained eagerness, when he should have been making them relax and go to bed. He was such a terrible boyfriend.

Akaya kissed him back firmly and rolled his hips down against Hiyoshi’s, reaffirming it to himself that he wasn't dreaming and his boyfriend was really there under him, kissing him. His brain was a bit fuzzy from the little amount of sleep he'd been getting, but it was still very much awake enough to try and figure out what he was going to screw Hiyoshi against. Maybe the wall?

Should he take Akaya right here on the floor? Or pick him up and have his way with him on the bed? The roll of Akaya’s hips against his made Hiyoshi’s mind up for him rather quickly. With Akaya still straddling his lap, he rolled them both forward so he was settled between his legs on the floor. It was a good thing he’d just cleaned it. Akaya was already undressed, which made this much easier. He rolled his own hips down against Akaya’s, getting a much better angle now with their new position, and moved his lips to taste Akaya’s skin at the neck. He’d missed that slightly salty flavor and savored it with his tongue. With confident hands, he began running one hand along Akaya’s toned thighs.

When Akaya found himself on his back, he growled a little. That was not what he had planned, but when that hand ran up his thigh, any complaint died in his throat. "Mm..." He arched up and bared more of his neck to his boyfriend. "Wakashi..." he purred and buried his hands in Hiyoshi’s hair.

Heart beating rapidly in his chest when Akaya said his name like that, Hiyoshi took the invitation and ravaged his boyfriend’s neck, kissing and sucking, paying special attention to the pulse point. He grabbed Akaya’s hips in a harsh grip, hard enough to maybe even leave bruises in the shape of his fingers, and rolled his hips down hard against his again. He knew he was teasing him terribly, but wanted to hear Akaya cry out for him. “Hmm… I can’t decide if I want to take you hard or gently today… Do you have a preference?” He asked with a teasing smirk, kissing way back up to Akaya’s mouth.

Akaya’s heart pounded against his chest so hard it felt like it was going to burst out. It wasn't helping that his boyfriend was pushing him down into the floor and talking dirty to him. Okay, so as dirty as Hiyoshi ever got. He gasped as he felt the fingers leave what were going to become nice bruises on his hips. "Ah!" He tried desperately not to beg, but that smirk on his boyfriend’s face killed any chance of that. "Hard. Nn… Wakashi… No prep, nothing. Just take me, please…" There were some days he wasn't above begging for what he wanted, but those days were few and far between and required him to be sleep deprived. Lucky for Hiyoshi, it was one of those days.

Hiyoshi was surprised at Akaya’s response, but only for a split second before his eyes became hard and lust filled, his smirk turning feral. He leaned forward to whisper in his ear, restraint clear and harsh in his voice. “As you wish, brat.” With that, he ripped himself away from Akaya’s body to quickly remove his clothing before he was on him again, pressing his body hard onto his, enjoying the feel of flesh on flesh. He didn’t need or want anymore foreplay, he just wanted Akaya. He took a moment to bite and suck at Akaya’s nipples, playing with the little nub between his teeth and rubbing over it with his tongue while he got Akaya into position, spread out before him. He didn’t want to just ram himself in and hurt him. So he slowly and painstakingly started to ease himself into Akaya’s tight opening. Watching Akaya’s every response with greedy eyes.

Akaya watched hungrily with slightly glazed over eyes as Hiyoshi undressed. It was always a breathtaking sight, even though he was visibly skinnier now. He didn't like that at all, but he'd kick his ass for it later. All he wanted right then was his boyfriend in him. He craned his neck to watch, panting, as his boyfriend positioned himself and toyed with his nipples, he was about to tell him to hurry the hell up when he felt the other man start to press into him. He hissed and gripped tightly at Hiyoshi’s upper arms, but he'd been taken harder than this and he knew he could make himself relax. He took a deep shuddering breath and immediately forced those muscles to relax and let the other man in. It hurt, and he knew it would hurt a lot more the next day, but this was nothing. He kept telling himself that over and over, letting his memories of last time surface as a kind of comparison. This was Wakashi and he wanted this. He was safe and he knew the pain would fade.

Akaya was so hot like this. Hiyoshi was unbelievably turned on by the site, and it felt so good… until Akaya closed his eyes and his expression held nothing but pain. He heard him whimper, and despite his body’s frustrating scream to continue, Hiyoshi stopped immediately. “Damn it, brat. You know I want to just ram myself into you, but not if I’m going to fucking seriously hurt you.” There was no brain space available for tact right now. “Look at me. Tell me truthfully what you want.” He was sweating and using all his control to hold himself back, but he was serious. He knew that Akaya could be a masochist, but he loved the idiot and wasn’t going harm him even if that’s what he seemed to want.

"You won't hurt me," Akaya assured and opened his eyes to smile a bit at his lover. "If you want to ram into me then do it," he purred and pulled Hiyoshi into a deep rough kiss. "Make me scream, Wakashi, please..." he whispered against his lips as his legs wrapped around his boyfriend’s waist and pulled him in further.

Fucking hell. “I love you, idiot. If I fucking hurt you, it’s your own damn fault…” Hiyoshi bit out roughly before letting loose and doing just as he was told, and exactly what his body was craving. He slammed himself the rest of the way into Akaya’s body. There was a loud noise that might have been a scream, but he was too consumed to know where or who it was coming from. Without pause, he continued to pound into his boyfriend, breathing hard and quietly moaning his name. He angled his body to make sure he was hitting precisely where he knew Akaya wanted it. Damn the brat felt good. In a moment of passion, he leaned over and grabbed a fist full of Akaya’s hair and dragged him up for a domineering kiss, biting at his lips, making him moan, not pausing in his movements even once.

Hiyoshi had indeed heard a scream. That had fucking hurt like hell, but Akaya endured. "Oh god," he moaned and arched up against the other man. He could feel himself being pushed across the floor inch by inch by the power of the thrusts. "Wa…nn—shi…" He groaned as he was pulled up into a deep kiss. By the time he finally pulled away, Akaya was screaming again and his heart was pounding in his chest painfully, the burning raced up his spine from their connection.

The vulnerability his boyfriend was displaying, being controlled by him, was a powerful turn on. Plus, the fact that they hadn’t used any lubricant ensured that every twitch from Akaya was sending electric shots to his groin. Hiyoshi’s thrusts became faster and he reached out for Akaya’s arousal, stroking him with a firm grip in time with his insistent thrusts. His eyes were glued to Akaya’s form beneath him, taking in every expression, every movement, with hungry eyes.

Akaya opened his eyes to stare into Hiyoshi’s, and smirked up at him as he met each thrust with smooth movements of his own hips. He dragged his dull nails across his boyfriend’s perfectly toned back leaving scratches down it that would definitely be there for a couple days. "Mm... So good Wakashi…" he purred and scratched down Hiyoshi’s back again. He was going to make sure everyone knew where those marks were from. No passing it off as cat scratches.

Hiyoshi wanted marks. He wanted that complete and total surrender from Akaya. He wanted the man to scream for him as he was already doing so wonderfully. Biting down viciously, he sunk his teeth in to the tender flesh of Akaya’s throat. He wanted everyone, especially Akaya, to know that he belonged to him; his and his alone. Keeping his harsh movements constant, he leaned down to tell him just that in a fiercely possessive voice. “You belong to me.”

Groaning loudly at the bite, Akaya gripped tightly at Hiyoshi’s back. "Yes," he moaned and arched up again. He knew he was going to catch crap from everyone on the tennis team, but frankly, he didn't care. He was proud to be Hiyoshi’s and he knew that Hiyoshi was his.

“If you ever forget that, I’ll never forgive you.” Hiyoshi would never be able to forgive him, because he knew that he would always belong to Akaya. Everything felt so good, even the nails scratching down his back felt amazing. As Akaya’s breathing became distinctly staccato, Hiyoshi slammed into him even harder, movements becoming more erratic with his own halted breathe.

"I will never forget," Akaya groaned and clenched his muscles expertly around Hiyoshi, "because you belong to me too." He buried a hand in his boyfriend’s hair and tugged him down into a deep kiss.

That was it. Hiyoshi couldn’t hold back any longer. He might have responded, but his lips were too busy getting lost in Akaya like the rest of him. The hot clench of Akaya around him, the hot possession of his lips, and the radiating lust and passion of the man beneath him ensured that he could almost taste his release. With a strangled moan, he made a few more deep thrusts into Akaya before stilling. His back arched and he came hard and fast inside his lover.

The heat that filled him made Akaya moan loudly and spiral into his own orgasm. He screamed his boyfriend’s name, fairly certain that everyone on their floor (and maybe even Sanada upstairs) could hear him. Perfect. His fingers dug deep into his lover’s back, leaving deep bruises as he shuddered and came between them, coating their chests and abs.

Hiyoshi dropped down onto his lover in an exhausted heap and buried his head in Akaya’s shoulder, lightly nipping on a delicious patch of already bruising skin. It felt like it had been years since he felt this good. “Mmm… Are you alright?” he asked softly into his neck. Taking refuge in Akaya’s breathing beneath him and inhaling his scent.

Akaya lay there panting for a moment, but before the question was even all the way out of Hiyoshi’s mouth, the former rikkai baby was asleep and snoring quietly with a little smile on his face, proof of how little sleep he'd gotten over the past two weeks.

At the lack of response, Hiyoshi worriedly looked up, only to find his boyfriend completely passed out. He groaned loudly. “You are a despicable little idiot, you know that?” Hiyoshi growled out quietly before slowly and, as gently as possible, removing himself from Akaya. Damn it, the brat looked so damn cute like that, even covered in the proof of there activities. He couldn’t leave him like this though. They were both a sweaty sticky mess and needed a shower badly. “No sleeping yet,” he called softly. “We need to get cleaned up.”

Akaya groaned as Hiyoshi pulled out and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. "Mm... Sleep time now Wakashi," he mumbled and held onto the other man like a leech.

Hiyoshi resisted the urge to curse loudly. This was very out of character for his boyfriend. Akaya never passed out like this after sex, usually more likely to beg him for another round… or two. Deciding there was no way around it, he carefully stood up, attempting to bring Akaya with him. “Can’t believe this… Such a stubborn idiotic brat … When did you last fucking sleep?!”

Blinking a bit, Akaya opened his eyes at the outburst. "Hmm?" he mumbled and wrapped himself around Hiyoshi tighter before burying his face against his boyfriend’s neck. "Dunno..." he mumbled and let out a little contented sigh.

Rolling his eyes in frustration, Hiyoshi guided them over to where their shower supplies was, once again grateful that he’d cleaned earlier, then wrapped Akaya and himself in a towel. This proved difficult since Akaya was no help whatsoever. Giving up any idea of having Akaya’s cooperation, he finally just slid the shower supplies bag onto one arm then scooped Akaya up bridal style. The brat must have lost some weight too, since he seemed lighter than last he’d held him.

Akaya allowed himself to be maneuvered around and picked up without much complaint. He was tired and just wanted to curl up with Hiyoshi in bed, but if his boyfriend wanted to shuffle around, doing whatever it was he was doing, it was fine with him (as long as he didn't have to be conscious to do it).

With some difficulty, Hiyoshi managed to open the door and look both ways to make sure no one else was around before entering the hall and quickly making his way to the shower room. Once inside, he put Akaya down on the cold tile next to the shower stall in order to turn on the water.

As soon as he hit the tiles, Akaya shivered and curled into a ball on the floor. "Gimme back the covers, Wakashi..." he mumbled and groped at the floor, trying to find the invisible blankets.

A second later, Hiyoshi came back to retrieve Akaya from the floor, his naked body already glistening with steam and sweat. “Come on, brat. Don’t make me do all the work.”

"Mmm...'m not a brat..." The sleepy brat mumbled and wriggled toward Hiyoshi’s warmth. When had the bed gotten this cold?

Picking Akaya up securely in his arms again, Hiyoshi walked them both into the shower stall. The water was steaming hot and felt wonderful against his skin. He tried to place Akaya on his feet, hoping the contact of the water would wake him up some.

Akaya yelped as water hit him and tried to wriggle away from Hiyoshi and the stream of water. Once he succeeded though, he realized it was too damn cold to be out of the water and slipped back under the hot stream. He blinked a couple times, then his head drooped and he fell back asleep standing up.

Hiyoshi chuckled when Akaya literally leaped out of his arms, but then frowned again when he seemed to just fall asleep standing there. ‘Fine,’ he thought, and turned towards the spray. He wasn’t going to bother with shampoo, but he used a bar of soap to clean himself off.

Akaya swayed a bit under the spray, but didn't wake up. The heat was soothing and he knew Hiyoshi was nearby.

Once he was satisfied, Hiyoshi reached out for Akaya and dragged him closer to quickly clean and rinse him off. He couldn’t believe Akaya was being so cooperative. He’d been ready for a fight and had been prepared to do this with a kicking and screaming brat if he had to. Therefore, he was a bit disappointed that Akaya was being so agreeable. ‘He must really be tired.’

As he got pushed back under the water, Akaya frowned and sputtered and stuck his head back out with a little glare on his features. "Oi, what are you doing?" he grumbled and looked around, his features turning surprised. "Eh? When did we get in the shower?" He was still exhausted and he felt sleep tugging at him again, but damn it, he was wet and his hair was sticking to his forehead and straight. He hated his hair straight.

“We needed a shower,” Hiyoshi explained simply, rolling his eyes at Akaya’s apparent first conscious moment since they left the room. He placed the bar of soap half in Akaya’s hand. “Are you going to finish cleaning yourself up, or am I?”

Akaya handed the soap back to Hiyoshi and pouted. "I just took a shower," he mumbled grumpily but still reached between his legs to spread himself and let the remainders of their activities leak out. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it was something he didn't even think about anymore.

Hiyoshi ran his hands through Akaya’s hair, brushing the wet curls back off his face. “Trust me, you needed it.” He raised an eyebrow, “Unless you would have preferred I just left you alone on the floor like that.”

Shivering a bit, Akaya watched Hiyoshi and kissed him. He honestly didn't care about sleeping in his bed covered in excrements since, well, he did that normally anyway. His excessive amount of wet dreams insured that, but he knew it bothered Hiyoshi so he didn't complain.

Hiyoshi kissed him back lightly, but then pushed Akaya back to rinse him off one last time. He turned off the water and retrieved their towels, drying them both the best he could with a cuddly Akaya attached to him. He took a moment to towel Akaya’s hair as well. Despite what the brat continuously told him, it wasn’t healthy to sleep with sopping wet hair. “Can you walk, or do I need to carry you again?” he asked, amused. Akaya eyes had a bleary glazed over look to them and it was hard to tell when he was actually conscious.

Akaya held on tightly to his boyfriend and yawned. "Mm... Carry..." he mumbled and nuzzled Hiyoshi’s neck. In all honesty, he could walk. He just didn't want to.

Now Akaya was being difficult on purpose. Once Hiyoshi had his boyfriend securely wrapped in a towel, he grabbed their belongings and leaned down to hoist Akaya up and threw him over his shoulder to carry him fireman’s style. It would be much easier this way since it only required one hand to hold him up.

It was a good thing Akaya was barely conscious, because otherwise he would have been throwing a fit at the rough treatment, but at the moment, he was too tired to really care. Instead, he just let out a little grunt and gave a little smirk since he now had a great view of Hiyoshi’s towel covered ass.

Hiyoshi hurriedly made his way back to the privacy of their room, feeling the day’s events catching up to him. He dropped Akaya down onto the bed then crawled in after him. Once he felt the coolness of the sheets and the familiar feel of the mattress beneath him, he immediately started to doze off.

Akaya didn't let out more than a grunt as he hit the bed and immediately reached out for Hiyoshi. Once he found him, he wrapped around him in a death grip and didn't let go, even after he was in the deepest sleep of his life.

Before letting himself drift off completely, Hiyoshi lazily wrapped an arm around Akaya in return, holding him back loosely, giving a satisfied sigh as he pressed one last small kiss to his forehead. “Goodnight, brat.” he uttered in a half yawn, as sleep finally claimed him.


	28. Chapter 28

Tennis practice was over finally. Sanada had made Akaya run an extra fifty laps because he'd caught him texting Hiyoshi, and it had taken what felt like forever to finish them. But that didn't matter, he was home now and he couldn't wait to snuggle up to his boyfriend. He opened his door with a happy call of "Waka~---" He fell silent as he saw his boyfriend packing his things, "Wakashi…? What are you doing?"

Hiyoshi turned from his work when Akaya entered the room. “Packing up what I’ll need so I can move into the new room they assigned me.” There were only a few more things he might need, but he could always come back and pick them up later. Oh, but he would definitely want most of his bathroom supplies. He walked to their joined basket and started removing some of its contents.

"Why?" Akaya asked quietly and closed the door behind him. He didn't like where this conversation was going, and it had barely started. "I thought you were just going to stay with me until they fix up your old one...”

Finished taking out what he would need from their bathroom supplies, Hiyoshi returned to the small bag he was packing. “We don’t know how long that will take, and I only stayed here after the earthquake since I was hurt. We never really talked about it, so I thought it was obvious that I should move to my own room since I’m fine now.” It wasn’t that big a deal. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t still see each other every day still. “Would you get me my toothbrush?”

The bratty demon felt a little pain grow in his chest and he looked down, his hair covering his eyes as he fetched the toothbrush from the bathroom and handed it to Hiyoshi, staying a full arms length away. "Alright..." he said quietly, unsure of why this was bothering him so much. Maybe it was because Hiyoshi actually looked happy to be leaving.

After his boyfriend handed him the toothbrush, Hiyoshi caught a glimpse of Akaya’s face and raised a confused eyebrow. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want your own space back?” The room was a single, and rather small for two people to share. He had been comfortable enough, since it was Akaya, but he thought his boyfriend might appreciate having his privacy back.

"No…" Akaya said quietly with a little shake of his head and backed up toward the door, "Nothing's wrong," he lied and forced a smile. "I just remembered I forgot something in the locker room. I… uh, gotta go get it before Sanada-fukubuchou locks the place up." With that, he bolted out of the room. He was over reacting, he knew it, but he couldn't help it. His chest ached and he didn't understand it.

Eyes widened at Akaya’s forced smile and very translucent lie. When Akaya told an obvious lie, it meant something was very wrong. Before he could ask though, Akaya had already run off. It took all of three seconds for his eyes to narrow, get to his feet, and run after him; however, his boyfriend was a very fast runner. By the time he got to the hallway, Akaya was already long gone. “Shit!” He cursed before taking off after him. “Akaya!” he yelled fairly loudly once he got outside, looking around for his frustrating chibi demon.

When it was obvious Akaya was no longer in hearing range, Hiyoshi figured he would have gone to one of two places; the tennis courts or the lake they frequented. Thinking the courts was a better bet; he began a slow trek in that direction. He didn’t want to catch up with him too fast. Whatever Akaya was upset about, it would probably be better if he gave him time to vent it out first. He tried to think what he could have possibly done wrong in so short a time. Was Akaya really that angry at him for moving out to his own room? Was it because they hadn’t talked about it first? He didn’t really want or need to. He had just assumed… This was getting him nowhere. He needed to find Akaya.

Kirihara Akaya ran down to the courts, glad that he hadn't set his tennis bag down when he'd walked into their---no, his room. He had heard Hiyoshi call, but never slowed down. He didn't want the other man to find him. Though, he knew he would eventually. Maybe he would just get tired of looking for him and give up. Angry and confused, he walked out onto the court and dropped his bag down with a loud thud, then took out his racket and grabbed a hopper of balls that Sanada hadn't locked up yet.

The aforementioned fukubuchou raised an eyebrow, but took one look at Akaya and knew something must have happened between his kohai and Hiyoshi. That determined look only appeared on the other man’s face when he was upset. Maybe he would play a match with him. That seemed to help back in junior high. Sanada grabbed his racket and took a stand on the opposing base line without a word.

The younger boy understood the challenge and silently took a serving position, sending a knuckle serve rocketing across the court. All thoughts of Hiyoshi pushed immediately from his mind in an odd form of self preservation. When he was on a court all he thought about was the match. It was his own kind of meditation, and today would be the day he beat Sanada. He could feel it.

Hiyoshi had been right. When it came to the brat, he usually was. Akaya was on the courts as expected, looking like he was about to murder a passive looking Sanada. He knew better than to interrupt in the middle of a match, so instead quietly took a seat on a nearby bench to wait and watch.

Sanada noticed the presence of the former Hyotei student immediately, but made no mention of it. "You're slow, Akaya," he challenged and smashed the ball into the back corner of the court, making Akaya miss it by a few inches. "5-1," he stated simply, more for the benefit of Hiyoshi than for Akaya. He knew the younger boy knew the score if his bloodshot eyes were any indication.

Akaya screamed in frustration and switched into demon mode. "Why? After all this time!" He cried out to himself and got ready to serve again. He wouldn't lose, he refused to lose again. He had long since gained the ability to control his muga no kyouchi and he used it to send one of Atobe’s Taunhauser serves across the net. Akaya hit the ball with every emotion he was feeling. Hurt, love, fear, everything... That was his tennis.

It really was impressive how much Akaya’s tennis had grown since they were younger. The brat’s hard work had paid off. But it was obvious who the winner would be even before Sanada called out the score. However, Hiyoshi was more worried about the look in Akaya’s eyes and what that meant. He wondered if maybe he shouldn’t be there and thought about leaving, but for some reason, stayed rooted to his seat. Even like this, Hiyoshi couldn’t help feeling a pull towards Akaya and silently cheered for him. Instead of turning away as the match became more intense, he stood and walked towards the gate surrounding the net, eyes locked on the boy he’d come to care for.

Sanada could tell Akaya’s mood from tennis. He'd watched him for years and knew his style better than most, and he could tell how scared and confused his kohai was. For the first time in a long time, he underestimated the determination in the younger boy.

Akaya took the next game, and when they switched sides, he saw his boyfriend watching, but his determined look didn't change. If anything, it only grew more focused and he used Sanada’s own FuuRinKaInZanRai against him. Over the years, his grip had improved and grown strong enough to successfully use Ka. In, what felt like the blink of an eye, the score was 5-4.

Akaya had managed to turn the game around, and now there was no telling who would come out on top. Hiyoshi could feel the excitement growing as he watched his boyfriend play with everything he had and itched for own his racket, even if he knew he didn’t stand a chance. When Akaya passed by, he couldn’t tell if he even noticed him, neither of them said a word. He hoped his boyfriend knew how amazing he looked, so focused like that. It had been a long time since he’d been so attentive to a game.

Sanada’s posture changed as Akaya caught up and his features became more determined. He had never dropped more than 3 games to Akaya before and he didn't like it at all. So far he'd only used Fuu, Rin, Ka and In, but now he could tell it was time for Rai. If they went to tie break, he understood he would have to unseal the newest addition and he didn't want that. That was to be saved for his matches against Yukimura.

Akaya’s eyes sparked with excitement, he'd improved. Finally, he'd taken 4 games from Sanada. It was something he used to dream about, and now he just needed 3 more. Three more and he would have defeated his first demon, and the second strongest one at that. He would have taken down his mentor... his first love... all with Hiyoshi watching. If he won, would Hiyoshi stay?

Eyes red and determined, he hit the ball across the net. The next thing he knew, Sanada was calling out the score in his favor. His eyes went wide. Rai. Sanada had never used Rai against him before. Sanada had left for America before he'd ever had the chance. Akaya cursed and got ready because he knew it would be coming again. He looked at Sanada’s face and frowned, his eyes were hidden by the hat, but he could feel the demonic aura radiating off of him. No... Sanada wouldn't let him win. He never would. He yelled as he hit the ball and kept his eyes focused. He didn't have the 'Tezuka Phantom' or whatever the hell it was. He couldn't break Rai yet, and in a matter of minutes, the set was over. 6-4... Sanada’s victory.

Sanada walked to the net and held out his hand to shake Akaya’s, whose eyes were covered by his hair. "You played well, Akaya," he said quietly, "You're almost there." He let go of his kohai’s hand and walked past where Hiyoshi was holding onto the fence. "Don't hurt him anymore," he said quietly to Hiyoshi, not looking at him before continuing on to the locker room.

Akaya faded out of demon mode after those words and sat down on the court, his knees pulled up to his chest and his face hidden against them.

The brat had lost the game, but he had not lost Hiyoshi’s respect in the slightest. That was the best he’d ever seen him play, and would have told him so, except Sanada’s words stopped him in his tracks. Don’t hurt him anymore? Hiyoshi’s eye’s widened in confusion. The word ‘anymore’ gave the impression that he hurt him often. Did he really hurt Akaya? Worried, he made his way onto the court and slowly sat down next to where Akaya was huddled on the ground. He sat close to him but not quite touching, not sure what Akaya wanted right now. “Gekokujou,” he whispered quietly. Akaya had been so close to doing just that. “Good game.”

Akaya smiled a little against his legs and uncurled from his little ball to hug Hiyoshi. He was sweaty and smelly but he didn't care. "Don't move, Wakashi, please," he said quietly and held onto his boyfriend like he was the only thing keeping him sane, which in some ways, he really was. "I don't want you to leave me..."

That was all this was about? Hiyoshi held Akaya back against him and tried to think of the best way to respond to that. The answer was surprisingly simple. “Okay.” He wasn’t going to go into how he wouldn’t have been leaving him. They would have basically just been staying at each other’s places all the time like before.

"I like you living with me all the time. It's… it's really nice to come home and have you there, or to wait for you to come home... and... and if you move... then... your stuff won’t be there anymore... and... It’ll feel like you’re gone..." Akaya mumbled quietly and kept a tight hold on his lover because he didn't want him to see his face. He wanted to stay hidden behind his dark curls.

Hiyoshi nodded, understanding since he’d thought of those same things, but had been too paranoid about infringing on Akaya’s private space to bring it up. He swept Akaya’s sweaty hair out of his eyes and took hold of his chin. He met resistance, but forced him to look him in the eye. “You should have just said so in the first place, idiot.” He rolled his eyes then leaned forward to kiss him.

Akaya purred quietly into the kiss and smiled. "I love you, Wakashi," he said softly as he pulled away from the kiss, "a lot." He smiled wider.

Hiyoshi chuckled and mumbled a quiet “Me, too” in his ear. They were still outside in public, even if no one else was around. He sat back and contemplated a moment. “Maybe we should apply for a two-person room. That way we’ll have more space and it’ll be easier to fit all of our stuff. What do you think?” After he said it, he realized how… permanent it sounded, like he was formally asking Akaya to move in with him. He turned red and looked to the side, but didn’t try to take back his words.

Akaya’s eyes shot open wide and he smiled from ear to ear, looking happier than he had all day. "You mean it?!" he asked excitedly and tackled Hiyoshi, his arms around the other man’s head so he didn't hurt him. "I'll turn in the paperwork tonight!" he said happily and held his boyfriend in a vice like grip. "We're pushing the beds together though," he nodded, indicating his boyfriend had no choice in the matter.

Laughing as he was tackled onto the ground, Hiyoshi sighed in mock frustration and replied, “I guess, since I don’t seem to have a choice in the matter.” His fingers tangled with Akaya’s and he continued seriously, “but I’m doing the organizing, or else we’ll never find anything ever again.”

"Hey I always know where everything is!" Akaya pouted and kissed his boyfriend firmly to silence any argument he may have had.

If his mouth hadn’t currently been occupied with something much more engaging, Hiyoshi would have pointed out that even though Akaya might have his own organization system, it was not one that anyone else on the planet could figure out. But as it was, he smiled into the kiss and let his lips and tongue softly taste Akaya’s. He couldn’t help but let out a content sigh against Akaya’s always hungry and assertive lips, and if they hadn’t been outside on the school’s tennis court, things might have even progressed. He knew they needed to stop now though, and he would… in a moment.

Akaya kissed the other boy possessively and slid his hand up Hiyoshi’s thigh slowly, almost massaging the muscles as he went. This was something he had dreamed about for years, taking someone on a tennis court after a hard match. Of course, in the dream, the person didn't have a face. Well, for a while it was Sanada, but that faded with time. Now all he could see was Hiyoshi.

Hiyoshi tried to stop sound from escaping, but the hand on his thigh, slowly kneading, made his repressed moan sound like a small whimper. He clutched at Akaya’s arms and tried not to become overwhelmed. It was just that he tasted so magnificent after his match. He could never tell his boyfriend, but seeing him play like that… Looking so confident, powerful… and dangerous on the court was an incredible turn-on.

"Wakashi," Akaya purred and pressed down against his boyfriend, "Can we?" he mumbled and rubbed his hand against his boyfriend’s groin, showing him exactly what he wanted to do, as if the slight bulge in his pants wasn’t already an indication.

“Fuck… Akaya. We’re outside in public!” Shit. For some reason the idea of Akaya and him, on a tennis court… Green demon eyes looking down at him with obvious hunger and lust, skin flushed with perspiration, making his dark curls stick to his skin while the rest moved wildly in the wind. Hiyoshi couldn’t remember Akaya ever looking quite as sexy as he did at that moment. He was really, really tempted to just give in. He could feel his body protesting wildly to his conscience as it unconsciously pressed up against Akaya, but he would prove that he had more self control than this. Hoping he didn’t look as sappily love-struck as he pathetically felt at that moment, he covered Akaya’s hand with his own and moved it away from the ache between his legs. “There are better places… for this.”

The horny demon frowned and nuzzled his boyfriend’s neck. "Wakashi, please?" he asked softly and placed a soft kiss just under his ear. "I've never done it on a tennis court, and after a good match..." he moaned, "I want you so bad, please." He took Hiyoshi’s hand and placed it between his legs so his boyfriend could tell just how true that statement really was.

This time the moan did escape as Hiyoshi’s hand automatically stroked at Akaya’s very obvious erection through his pants. He still might have had the self control to say no, except… Akaya had never done it on a tennis court before? He’d been under the impression that nothing was left untouched by Akaya’s sexual escapades. He’d given up on being Akaya’s first in just about everything. “Never?” He couldn’t help being a little… Okay, a lot resentful of the fact that Akaya had been with so many before him.

Akaya let out a deep groan and his body quivered, the tone in Hiyoshi’s voice was intoxicating. "Never," he assured and rolled his hips down against his boyfriend’s, "I've always wanted to... Nn… god how I've wanted to..." He smirked and brushed his lips over Hiyoshi’s as he spoke. "You have no idea how many times I've dreamed of taking you on a court, in the middle of the day where anyone could see us." Okay, so maybe he had a bit of a kink for doing it in public places, but he couldn't help that the thought sent adrenaline rushing through him.

Well, it wasn’t quite the middle of the day, thank goodness. It was now early evening, and the sun was starting to set, casting shadows over them. Perhaps that would cover at least a little… But Hiyoshi knew, even if it was plain as day, he wouldn’t have been able to say no after that. He gave him one last horrible sappy look then reluctantly turning around and presented his back to him. It would be easier and faster this way. “Then what are you waiting for?”

Akaya was pretty sure his heart stopped at that. Every time he thought he'd just seen the hottest thing in the world, something else happened that took his breath away. He slipped Hiyoshi’s shirt up and worked on getting his boyfriend’s pants off with a smirk. It was amazing how wrapped around Hiyoshi’s finger he really was.

After they were well involved in their activities, Sanada walked out of the club room and glanced down at the courts where he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He would wish for weeks that he hadn't looked, but it was too late. The image was burned into his mind and would haunt his dreams for quite a while.

Hiyoshi would be lying if he said there wasn’t a little extra added thrill that came along with doing it outside with the chance of being caught, but even that was the furthest thing from his mind once he was sated and lying face down on the tennis court with Akaya collapsed on top of him. Damn… the way Akaya could make him feel. It made him forget about everything else and focus his entire world on just this one incorrigible idiotic selfish brat that he was becoming more and more aware that he couldn’t do without.

"It was better than in my dream," Akaya mumbled sleepily as he lay panting and sweaty on top of Hiyoshi, still inside him as the court lights flickered on and the sky grew darker. He knew they should get up and dressed before anyone actually showed up, but he couldn't bring himself to do it just yet, he was too damn comfortable right where he was.

The hard cement beneath the mushroom-headed boy was becoming more than a little uncomfortable, but his body didn’t seem to care as it was still recovering from the pleasurable blow it had just been dealt. Eyes still a bit glazed and feeling sluggish, he raised a hand to Akaya’s head, which was comfortably lying on the back of his shoulder, and turned his head to kiss him lazily. “Hmm… let’s go home.”

"Mmm... kay" Akaya mumbled and slowly pulled out of his boyfriend, only to flip over to his back and look up at the sky for a minute. He’d been tired before, but now he was just flat out exhausted.

This was the part Hiyoshi hated. He was a mess. He cleaned himself off the best he could with his shirt and stole Akaya’s, putting it on since he had more evidence to cover. Trying not to think about it and ignoring the soreness, he pulled his pants back up. Although sweaty and looking worn out, Akaya looked relatively clean. He idly ran his hand through Akaya’s hair. What he really wanted to do was go home and cuddle with his boyfriend for a while, but he would never say something so girly out loud. Instead, he got Akaya’s attention by adding a bit more pressure to his combing, and gave him a serious look, hopefully relaying his discomfort.

Akaya looked up at Hiyoshi and smiled, and as the pressure of the pet increased and the other man’s face got more serious, he sat up and pulled his pants up all the way. He looked around for his shirt and found his boyfriend wearing it. He didn't care in the slightest since he didn't mind showing off a bit, so instead of commenting, he just stood and offered his boyfriend a helping hand up. "Come on, let’s go home and get some rest," he said with a big child-like smile.

Hiyoshi took the offered hand and let himself be helped up. He didn’t usually appreciate gestures like that, but Akaya was the exception to a lot of things. He tried to not to feel too self conscious as they made their way through campus back towards the dorms, facing forward to avoid any eye contact. However, Akaya was adamant about stopping by the housing office first to fill out a request form for a double.

The lady at the desk gave Akaya the weirdest look when he walked in shirtless and sweaty with a tennis bag over his shoulder, grinning like a mad man, but she was smart enough (or scared enough) not to comment. It was almost too good to be true, he was going to room officially with Hiyoshi. It felt so permanent and he loved it.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and felt a little bad for the woman behind the counter. He filled out the paperwork as quickly as possible and had Akaya sign his name along with his at the bottom. He then turned and pulled the crazily smiling demon with him out of the building. He wondered for a moment how legitimately insane he must be for having signed that document so easily and without a second thought, but found he didn’t care.

The smiling demon allowed himself to be shuffled out of the office after filling out the paperwork and held Hiyoshi’s hand as they walked back toward his… no, their room. Life was good.


	29. Chapter 29

Even with a double, the two of them had too much shit. The room was about a half size larger than a single. It had two twin size beds with chest of drawers underneath, two desks, two bookshelves, and two small closets on either side of the door. He could already tell, even with everything still in boxes, that between his books and all of Akaya’s video games, all of the bookshelves and most of the counter space would be used up. Now that all the boxes had been carried into the room, it was time for the hard part… getting Akaya to be as unhelpful as possible without letting him know.

Akaya ran around their new room like a puppy, checking every nook and cranny excitedly. "Wow! Did you see this, Wakashi?" he asked happily as he stuck his head out of the closet. "There's so much space in here!" He leaned back into it and the door closed behind him. A couple moments later there was a knock on the door and a muffled whine. "Waaakaaaaaashiiiiiiiiiiii lemmeeeee out!!!" he scratched at the door and it rattled.

Hiyoshi sweat dropped, and then chuckled as he walked towards the closet. “No. I think I’ll leave you in there for a while. Maybe then I’ll be able to get some work done,” he teased. His idiot boyfriend deserved it for locking himself in there in the first place. How could the brat think they were big? It wasn’t even half as large as his closet back home.

"WAKASHI!!!!" Akaya howled like a banshee and banged on the door, trying to be as annoying as possible, "LEMME OUT!!!" Maybe if he hollered loud enough the neighbors would hear him. Just then, a wonderful idea popped into his head. "WAKASHI~!!!!! If you don't let me out, I'm going to start yelling out sex stories so the neighbors will hear~!" He smirked deviously and waited.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes, Akaya really needed to come up with a new threat. After having sex on a public court, he would have to be an idiot not to realize their relationship was probably fairly obvious to most of campus by now. Still, the screaming was annoying, so he opened the door and raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend. “Think you can scream any louder, brat? I don’t think they heard you in America.”

As soon as the door opened, Akaya fell out of the closet and onto his boyfriend. "I can. I have a big mouth," he said proudly and nuzzled up to Hiyoshi. "We can call Fukubuchou’s uncle and see if he heard me," he laughed and kissed Hiyoshi once before going over to grab one of the beds and tug it toward the other one.

“Wait.” Stopping him from moving the bed any more, Hiyoshi continued “First thing’s first. We have to decide where everything is going before we start re-organizing the furniture.” This was exactly why it would be better if Akaya didn’t help. “If you move the bed now, you’re going to block the entrance, idiot.”

"We gotta move the beds together though," Akaya pouted, "It was part of the deal!" He looked at Hiyoshi with pathetic puppy like eyes and sat on the edge of the bed.

“I know.” Hiyoshi leaned over to lightly kiss the pouting lips once before kicking him off the bed and looked around the room thinking. “Help me move the desks away from the window. We can rearrange them next to the closets and push the beds together by the window.”

"K," Akaya mumbled, and in a matter of minutes had moved the desks out of the way and started dragging the beds into place without help. If being a Kinesiology major did anything, it was make him a lot stronger than he used to be.

Glad Akaya was at least following instruction, trying to navigate between boxes, Hiyoshi next instructed Akaya to set up his TV at the end of the bed while he moved the bookcases and desks where he wanted them.

If there was one thing Akaya was good at doing, it was following instructions. He moved the TV stand to the indicated place and started setting it up, then started setting his various game systems up under it. It took about fifteen minutes to wire everything, but when he was done, it looked like a nerd heaven. He grinned at his masterpiece and looked to Hiyoshi. "What next?"

Hiyoshi had finished moving all the furniture where he thought it would be most convenient and had just started opening a few of the boxes when Akaya called. “Do you care which closet you use?” he asked as he started removing clothing and separating them into piles of his and Akaya’s. While packing, Akaya had apparently just thrown everything in together.

Akaya crawled over on all fours and looked between the closets. "Hmmm... That one!" he declared as he pointed to the one on his left. He didn't know why, but he liked that one. Maybe it was because he hadn't gotten locked in that one.

“Then either help me separate all this or start hanging it up.” Hiyoshi was very amused. Akaya had been in a good mood all day and now even seemed excited about cleaning. Maybe he wouldn’t kick him out after all. He went back to his work, mumbling out loud and counting off the things that needed to be done. “…new night stand, maybe more drawers… hmm…we’re going to have to buy different bedding since what we have wont fit with the beds pushed together…”

"You're like a walking post it note," Akaya mumbled and started putting his stuff away in his closet. His boyfriend really was too organized for his own good.

“Shut up, unless you’d like me to forget the new bedding and we can sleep separately.” Hiyoshi answered back easily and began hanging things up in his own closet.

"Alright, alright..." Akaya mumbled and started opening another box when he was done hanging his clothes up.

Done with the closet, Hiyoshi went over to see what Akaya was doing. He took one look down at the pile of porn and sex toys and flinched, raising a questioning eyebrow at his boyfriend. The question was obvious.

Akaya looked between his box of toys and Hiyoshi and raised an eyebrow at the question in the other man’s eyes. "You wanna borrow some?" He held up the 'College Boys: Caught on Tape' DVD and looked at Hiyoshi completely straight faced. "You can use any of the toys you want too. I sterilize them all so you don’t gotta worry bout anything."

Hiyoshi face palmed. That had not been anywhere near the question or answer he’d been looking for. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried to control his irritation before he straight out punched his boyfriend for assuming he would want to have anything to do with… that. “Did you have to bring all of that with you?” He evened out his breathing. “I thought we agreed to get rid of everything that was unnecessary to save space.”

"I did. This is all the necessary stuff!" Akaya pouted and put the DVD back in the box before pulling out a magazine of tennis players posing nude and using rackets for something very different from their intended purpose. "See! Some of these are collector’s things! And this--" he pulled out a floppy yellow and black dildo, "This was my first sex toy!" He pouted up at Hiyoshi, giving him a look that said 'How could you make me get rid of these?!'

‘Very easily,’ Hiyoshi answered Akaya’s silent question to himself. And that magazine was… he gulped… he was scared to look at it any closer. In a state of near mental panic, he reached in and grabbed some offending object and waved it back and forth in front of Akaya a bit crazily. “I can’t even tell what the fuck this is! What the hell do you need it for?” He froze and turned red. Shit. He was touching it. He was going to start hyperventilating any second now.

Akaya’s lip quirked as he tried to repress a laugh, "W-wakashi… that--heh heh… That's a corn shaped glass dildo," he explained and finally couldn't hold it back anymore. He started laughing hard to the point where he was rolling on the floor and tears were rolling down his cheeks. He'd never seen anything quite as ridiculous as his boyfriend waving a glass sex toy in his face before.

A what? Hiyoshi’s eyes crossed. That was the most ludicrous thing he had ever heard, and now Akaya was laughing at him. He threw the offending object back in the box like it was a scorpion and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring bloody murder at Akaya’s form. Without a word, he walked over to one of his own boxes and began unpacking it.

Once Akaya finally got his laughter under control, he sat up and wiped at his eyes. "Oh ow, my abs hurt, heh heh, oh your face." He laughed again and crawled over to Hiyoshi to hug onto him, "Wakashi~ Don't pout," he giggled again, "You're just too cute..."

“I am not cute.” Hiyoshi bit out the word with disgust, his head turned down slightly, feeling his pride both insulted and bruised. He picked up the nearest available object in the box, which happened to be his kama (a smaller version of a glaive with a chain attached), and with practiced grace and ease, held it up to Akaya’s throat with gleaming threatening eyes. “Back off.”

A noise so pathetic and girly had never come out of Akaya’s manly frame before as the weapon was held to his throat. He shot back from Hiyoshi like he was on fire and looked at his boyfriend, completely and utterly terrified. He shivered and backed up against the far wall, not daring to look away from the shiny metal, even to look for an escape route.

The martial artist with wounded pride felt a little better now. Taking his eyes off of Akaya, he put the kama down and started taking out his other weapons carefully and reverently. His sai, tonfa, nanchaku, tekko, a few shurinkan… A small malevolent smile came to his face as he gazed at them lovingly. His surujin and bo were both locked up at the club house, but he would need to find a place for them since he didn’t like his precious weapons to be so far away. Technically, he wasn’t allowed to have weapons in the dorms at all.

Akaya looked at the door and wondered if he could make it there before Hiyoshi could throw one of the shuriken at him, but reasoned that it was best to stay put. At least he'd leave a cool blood stain on the wall, right? It was weird to see the almost loving look in his boyfriend’s eyes. No one should have that look when gazing upon sharp pointy things. It was just creepy.

Without looking up from his work of organizing his weapons and safely stowing them in the bottom drawer of his closet, Hiyoshi growled at Akaya, still not having completely forgiven him for earlier. “If you’re going to stay then at least make yourself useful.”

Akaya wanted to ask what the hell his boyfriend’s problem was, but for once his brain kicked in and warned him that asking that while Hiyoshi was surrounded with very deadly weapons that he knew how to use was a very bad idea. Instead, he just nodded and started unpacking his boxes.

Hiyoshi grinned, satisfied, as Akaya didn’t question and just did as he was told. Maybe he should bring out the shurinkan more often.

Once everything was stored away properly, Hiyoshi began to drag one of the heavier boxes towards his book shelf. Inside were his books and the few musical selections he had. Akaya’s silence was starting to bother him, so he took out the small CD player and plugged it in. He inserted one of the classical musical tracts Choutarou had given him years ago to help him unwind. It was actually a nice selection of relaxing music by classical artists such as Debussy, Handel, and Tchaikovsky.

Akaya wrinkled up his nose at the music but didn't argue because, once again, the man with the weapons won. He moved to start putting away his sex toys and paused half way through the box to open one of the magazines with a big childish excited grin. "I haven't read this in forever!" he said happily and opened up the magazine to flip through pictures of well muscled martial artists in rather compromising positions.

Hiyoshi looked out of curiosity to see what Akaya was talking about but then quickly turned back around, face flushed red. Why did Akaya keep doing this to him? He cranked up the music and continued to unpack his rather large collection of very old books, mostly hard back versions of old Japanese classics.

Akaya flipped through the magazine, occasionally giggling at the ridiculous poses the men were put into. "I'm pretty sure that's not the proper use for a shinai," he laughed again and finally put the book aside. "Fukubuchou would have a fit if he saw that." He pulled out the next book and flipped it open to look through the pictures as well.

Hiyoshi was getting angry. It felt like Akaya was doing this on purpose. Not only was he blatantly looking at something that Hiyoshi wasn’t sure if he should be offended at or not, but he was basically shoving it into his face. They were also supposed to be setting up the room and unpacking, which Akaya seemed to be intent on not doing. He balled his fist and stood there silently, trying to control his temper.

Akaya flipped through the book happily, oblivious to Hiyoshi’s anger, and then put it away on a shelf in his closet that he had decided to make his "happy shelf". It now housed all of his books and magazines to keep for a rainy Hiyoshi-less day. Then, he opened up another box to reveal all of his pants. He pondered on them for a minute, wondering where to put them, before folding them up and putting them on a shelf above the "happy shelf".

At least Akaya was back to being somewhat productive, but Hiyoshi needed some space before he said something he would regret. “I’ll be right back,” he said coldly and walked out the door. Damn it. It hadn’t even been an hour since they moved in and he already felt like killing the brat… Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

Akaya watched his boyfriend walk out with a little frown. He didn't know what was wrong, but he knew he would be back, so he didn't worry. This was his room too after all. He finished his last two boxes and flopped down on the bed to watch a movie and wait.

Hiyoshi walked outside and slammed his fist into the side of the building where no one was around. There was a nice little dent after in the wall and his fist hurt like hell, but he mentally felt a little better. He needed to look at this reasonably. Akaya had done nothing out of the ordinary, so why was he feeling this way?

He was nervous. He hated to admit it, but that had to be it. Maybe it was because Hiyoshi wasn’t used to sharing his space. It was fine before because he knew he had somewhere to go if he needed to be alone, but now… He should have realized earlier that this would be impossible. They had nothing in common, they had completely different lifestyles, didn’t even like each other’s music. How were they supposed to live together?

Hiyoshi walked around the building a few times and collected himself. The last thing he wanted to do was go back inside, lose his temper, and upset Akaya. With that in mind, he walked back into the building. When he entered the room and saw Akaya sitting on the bed watching TV, he didn’t say anything. Just went back to finishing putting his books away. They took up at least three levels of shelves, and focusing on putting them in alphabetical order helped him not to think.

Akaya looked over at the door as Hiyoshi came in and smiled, but when he was ignored, he rolled to his side. His back to Hiyoshi, he pulled a pillow under his head to hugged it. If his boyfriend wanted to be cranky, he could be cranky. Akaya would just lay there and watch TV and try not to piss him off more, because every time he opened his mouth he seemed to do that. He closed his eyes and just listened to the sound of Hiyoshi rustling around for a while, the TV only barely audible in the background before he fell asleep.

Hiyoshi was both glad and upset that Akaya didn’t say anything. On one hand he would have liked Akaya to at least seem like he cared that he obviously was upset, on the other hand, not saying anything meant not having to talk about it. He finished putting everything away, the process not taking very long since there were no distractions. Once he was done, he looked over at Akaya’s sleeping form on the bed.

With a sigh, Hiyoshi made his way over to the bed and silently lay down next to him, spooning him from behind and wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist. Akaya was a light sleeper, so he knew the other boy had probably woken up when he got on the bed. “Sorry…” he mumbled into the back of Akaya’s neck. He didn’t apologize very often, it was embarrassing, but he knew he owed him one.

Akaya’s eyes fluttered open slowly when Hiyoshi lay down behind him, but smiled when he felt that cool body press against him and arms come around his waist. "Mm... I'm sorry too..." he said a little groggily and rolled over to wrap his arms around the other boy and kiss him lightly.

Hiyoshi doubted Akaya even knew what he was apologizing for, but he appreciated the words all the same and kissed him back. Being as casual as possible, not loosening his hold, he asked tentatively, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Akaya opened his green eyes to look at Hiyoshi and smile. "Yeah, I know it is. It will be hard to get used to," he yawned, "and we'll fight a lot, cause we always do, but it will be okay in the end, ‘cause I love you."

Akaya had a knack for pissing Hiyoshi off… but he also had the remarkable ability to say the right thing to make his worries evaporate. Good thing this time it had been the latter. The on edge martial artist physically and mentally relaxed into Akaya’s hold and closed his eyes. Akaya’s breathing and embrace helped him forget about his earlier issues and still slightly throbbing hand. He didn’t know how long they laid there for, but he knew they needed to get back up since it wasn’t even close to bed time. “Mm… We need to get up.”

"Don't wanna," Akaya mumbled and nuzzled against Hiyoshi’s hair, burying his face in the sweet smelling strands that had the faint hint of the outdoors in them. "Nothing we need to do," he murmured again and started to fall asleep in his boyfriend’s arms.

Hiyoshi smiled, tempted to bring his hand up and start running it through his boyfriends hair, but he knew if he did they would never get back up. “We need to buy new bedding and I need an alarm clock. I would continue with the list but I wouldn’t want to sound like a walking post it note.”

Akaya groaned and held on tighter to Hiyoshi. "I don't wanna go," he whined, but eventually caved and released his vice-like hold on his boyfriend to sit up and stretch. "Fine. Let’s get it over with so we can come back home."

Hiyoshi sat up after Akaya, a small grin still in place, and did the two things guaranteed to wake up his half asleep boyfriend. He grabbed a handful of Akaya’s wild curls and pulled him in for an open mouthed, possessive kiss that lasted only a moment before he let go and backed away. Then he mentioned carelessly as he picked up his wallet, “Let’s get some dinner while we’re out to bring home.”

As if the kiss wasn't enough to make his eyes shoot open, the mention of food was. Akaya leaped off the bed and ran over to slip on his shoes. "Let's go!" he said excitedly and grinned at Hiyoshi like a small child who’d just been told he could have whatever toy he wanted at the store.

Worked every time. Hiyoshi leisurely made his way towards the door, their door, and waited for Akaya to join him. His boyfriend was right. This had been the right choice. They could make it work.


	30. Chapter 30

You honestly couldn’t blame Hiyoshi for being curious. After Akaya had flashed him a look at the magazine during the move in, his brain kept returning to it. Not to mention, it was still on top of a pile of magazines on the shelf deemed Akaya’s ‘happy shelf.’ He had refrained from looking at the damn thing for three days, but whenever he was home alone, somehow his gaze kept falling on it and a little voice kept nagging at him to just get it over with and look at it already.

It was one of those times right now. Akaya was out, leaving him alone with his conscience. After the fourth time looking over in that direction, Hiyoshi cursed and roughly grabbed the stupid magazine off the shelf.

The cover wasn’t so bad. Looked almost like a normal martial arts magazine on the front. He looked to both sides as if someone was going to randomly appear out of nowhere in his room and start laughing at him. He quickly locked the door, took a deep breath, and opened it with trepidation and a lump in his throat.

His breath came out slowly when he noticed the first few pages weren’t anything to worry about. Just some well built men with different types of gi’s that were missing a few pieces. One even made him smirk when he saw the kendo gear had been completely put on wrong, as if by an amateur. He flipped the page again and the lump came back to his throat. He had never seen positions quite like that before, and if he was completely truthful with himself, he would have to admit that it wasn’t all that disgusting to look at.

Unconsciously, he sat down on the bed and began nonchalantly flipping through the pages. Some making him laugh, others making him feel uncomfortable in ways he would never be able to admit. He cursed when he felt himself really starting to become hard, and was about to flip to the next page, when he heard someone at the door. Face ashen, he quickly shoved it under the pillow as the door opened.

Akaya was done with tennis for the day, finally. The menu Inui had given him was going to kill him long before he ever became a pro player, he just knew it. He had tugged off his shirt on the walk back from practice and was still covered in a light sheen of sweat when he opened the door and slipped off his shoes. He glanced up at the bed to see Hiyoshi lying there looking rather... guilty? He raised an eyebrow and dropped his bag down by his closet and tossed his sweaty shirt in his hamper. "Hey." He walked over to look at his boyfriend. "What were you doing?" he asked curiously and sat on the bed next to Hiyoshi with a raised eye brow.

“Nothing,” Hiyoshi replied back just a little too quickly. His boyfriend had the worst timing ever and smelled wonderfully of just finished working out demon brat (not to mention shirtless and glowing demon brat). It was doing absolutely nothing for his current condition. Thankfully, he was on his stomach, hiding the evidence of his predicament. Hopefully, Akaya would go take a shower or something to give him time to cool off.

If there was one thing that drove Akaya nuts, it would be having things hidden from him. It drove him crazy. So instead of leaving Hiyoshi in peace, he leaned down and placed a light kiss on the back of his boyfriend’s neck. "Nothing, hm?" he purred as his hand slid up under the back of Hiyoshi’s shirt to trace over his defined muscles, "Then why are you so red? And why do you look so guilty?" he asked with mock innocence.

Fuck. Hiyoshi tried hard to repress a groan and light shiver at Akaya’s touch. He had to keep himself together. Akaya could be very perceptive to these kinds of things and knew that he wasn’t usually so responsive so quickly. “What… would I be guilty of brat?” he glared at him, trying to make him move off of him, “It’s just a bit hot in here.”

That was fast. Akaya smirked and moved to kiss along Hiyoshi’s back as his hand worked on pulling the fabric up to expose more of that perfect skin. "You tell me," he purred, "I just came from working out and even I don't think it's hot in here Wakashi," he teased and licked along his boyfriend’s spine.

“Nnnn… Maybe I’m getting sick and you should leave me alone…” Hiyoshi tried for half-heartedly as he felt Akaya’s mouth and tongue. This was getting painful, but if Akaya noticed his precious magazine wasn’t where he left it, or worse, discovered it was under Hiyoshi’s pillow, he thought he might just die of embarrassment. His head fell forward into said pillow, trying to contain himself; his already rock hard erection twitching against the confines of his pants and the hard mattress.

"I don't get sick, remember?" Akaya mumbled and slipped his hand down to run over Hiyoshi’s ass gently. "Just tell me what's the matter," he mumbled and gave the firm well defined muscle a good squeeze.

The urge to rock his hips was strong, but the trained martial artist had more self-control than that. “I already told you idiot, nothing’s wrong!” He yelled out a bit more forcefully than he should have, but he was desperate at this point. Why wouldn’t the brat just go away? Or at least get the idea that he wanted to be alone… This was the problem with moving in together. “Just go take a damn shower or something!”

Akaya frowned, pulled his hands away and sat up. "Whatever," he mumbled and walked over to the closet to dig around for his freshly washed towel. It was nice having a bathroom attached now, especially because there was no one in the double room next to them, so they didn't have to share it with anyone. He glanced over at his happy shelf and paused. Something was missing. He reached over to the stack of magazines and raised an eyebrow. The martial arts magazine that had been on top was gone. He turned to look at Hiyoshi again and his smirk returned in full force, "Oh, so that's why..."

Despite Akaya’s grumpy response, Hiyoshi had been overtly relieved when he’d pulled away and seemed to be getting ready for his shower. However, at Akaya’s last comment, he froze and ceased to be able to breath. Wide eyes turned towards Akaya’s vulture like smirk. “I… don’t know what… you’re talking about,” he bit out stubbornly.

"Oh you don't, huh?" Akaya murmured teasingly and walked over to straddle Hiyoshi’s back, "What did you think of page five?" he chuckled and pulled up the pillow to reveal the magazine.

“Fuck!” Hiyoshi hadn’t meant to say that so loudly. He made a grab for the pillow, but Akaya still managed to reveal the magazines hidden underneath it. Great. Now he was going to die. His head fell forward again thinking it would be nice to just get it over with and suffocate himself in the mattress.

"Hey relax." Akaya smiled and chuckled before laying flush against Hiyoshi. "Why are you so upset?" he asked gently and kissed the back of his boyfriend’s neck again. "I'm not mad or nothin'," he assured with a little chuckle in his voice.

Was he serious?! “I’m upset because this is fucking embarrassing!” Just a few days ago he had gotten mad at Akaya for owning it, now he had been caught looking at it! Not to mention he should have been disgusted by it… not turned on by it so much that he couldn’t turn over without embarrassing himself further.

Akaya smiled. "Wakashi," he said gently and hugged his boyfriend the best he could in their position, "It's only natural, you know? What are you so embarrassed for?" he asked, all teasing long gone from his voice. "There's nothing wrong with looking at it or liking it."

Hiyoshi begged to differ, but was not about to get into that debate while sporting a hard on due to the subject of discussion. “You’ve found me out. I looked at it. Good for you. Now go take your shower and leave me to sulk in peace.”

"Hell no," Akaya smirked and nuzzled the back of the other man’s neck. "I'm not going to leave you alone to suffer," he said knowingly with a little mischievous tone to his voice. "You're hard aren't you?" He lowered his lips to the back of Hiyoshi’s ear and smirked. "Turn over and I'll take care of it."

“No.” Hiyoshi replied in a weak voice that he detested. He knew he was being stubborn and ridiculous, but he was not going to let Akaya take care of his embarrassing problem. Somehow, the satisfaction he thought Akaya would get out of knowing he got like this over one of his stupid magazines was more annoying than the problem itself.

"Please?" Akaya purred and licked the rim of Hiyoshi’s ear. "I want to... You'll like it, I promise..."

Hiyoshi had no doubt of that. It was almost scary how much he liked anything Akaya did to him, but it was the principle of the thing. His head buried itself into the mattress again and he grumbled out an unintelligible protest that may or may not have sounded more like a groan.

Akaya sighed and rolled off his boyfriend to lie on his side and watch him. "Wakashi... What do you fantasize about? I mean... If you're turned on from the magazine, you obviously like martial arts stuff, but what else do you think about? What do you jack off to?"

The question made Hiyoshi forget momentarily about his problem. He turned to face his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow, already embarrassed and too surprised to have any other reaction. “Why do you ask? You don’t usually ask me things like that…” It was true. Akaya wasn’t usually the type to ask Hiyoshi’s preference on anything and he was fine with that. Usually he was content to go along with whatever Akaya wanted anyway. “What do you fantasize about…?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, but maybe he should.

"I asked first," Akaya smiled and pressed up against Hiyoshi. "I'm curious. You've never told me. In fact, you never really tell me anything about you..." he mumbled and rested their foreheads together.

“There’s not anything important to tell…” Crossing his eyes slightly, Hiyoshi thought about how to respond to Akaya’s question. He pulled back a little and looked over Akaya’s face uncertainly before finally coming to a conclusion. “Do you really want to know?”

Akaya smiled and kissed him lightly. "Yes, please tell me?" He said quietly and looked at his boyfriend with sparkling green eyes.

Hiyoshi blushed and looked off to the side, trying to gather his nerves. He started to speak a few times, but nothing came out. He scowled. This wasn’t going to work. He turned onto his side, finally facing Akaya, and pulled him into his arms. That was better. He ran his lips down the other boy’s neck, kissing him softly as he started talking in a shy whisper. “It depends… Most of the time I just want you… it doesn’t matter how… just you…” He buried his head in the curve of Akaya’s neck and breathed in before continuing. “Sometimes… I imagine what it would be like to take you… long and slow… with no interruptions. I want to take you so deeply and so gently that it would make you forget about all the other people you’ve ever been with, make you swear that you never want anyone else in you ever again…” He paused and began nipping at Akaya’s ear. “But sometimes…”

The words sent fire down Akaya’s spine, and he couldn't hold back a groan. That Hiyoshi wanted that was... breathtaking. As it was, he didn't ever want anyone else inside of him, but he wasn't going to tell Hiyoshi that if it meant he would get fucked like that later. "Sometimes...?" he murmured, close to begging Hiyoshi to continue.

“I want you to take me. No questions. No permission granted. Just… take me.” Hiyoshi would’ve had to be blind not to see that Akaya was always careful with him in one way or another. Akaya never did anything he didn’t want. “Anything you want. No choices. No thinking.” He was only too well aware that Akaya was much more experienced in this field and had been wary of making him uncomfortable or scaring him off. He wanted… no needed his boyfriend to know that he didn’t need that anymore, didn’t want him to hold back anymore. “I want you tie me up if you have to, to make me forget everything. Everything except…” he bit his bottom lip, embarrassed, before letting out a long breath, “I’m yours.”

Akaya opened his mouth to speak, but he was long past being able to say anything. His heart was pounding in his chest and his shorts were getting progressively more uncomfortable as Hiyoshi went on. Then again, he didn't really need to say anything because everything he could have said was expressed through deep forceful kisses that drew a groan from him immediately. In moments, he had Hiyoshi on his back and was ravishing his mouth hungrily.

At Akaya’s groan, one followed from Hiyoshi’s own throat. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and held on as Akaya attempted to eat him alive, but he didn’t mind. He was very far from minding.

Akaya bit and sucked on Hiyoshi’s lower lip as his hands set to work stripping the other man down to nothing. His boyfriend wanted him to not hold back, then that was exactly what he was going to get.

“Akaya…” Hiyoshi tried to slow down his boyfriend’s movements but was unsuccessful, not that he was trying terribly hard. “Wait… you didn’t tell me…” The rest was drowned out by a moan as he felt his boyfriend’s warm hands on his bare skin and his mouth was covered again.

Akaya pulled away from the kiss and smirked as he lowered himself down to take Hiyoshi into his mouth and suck at him mercilessly, his expert tongue teasing as he pulled away only to deep throat his boyfriend again a moment later.

Hiyoshi sucked in his breath and tried to gain some of his senses back, but it was hard to do with his boyfriend touching him like that, his warm mouth wrapped around him, giving him no time to think past his name. “Akaya…”

The chibi demon pulled away just enough to mumble, "Lube," and held out his hand expectantly before diving back into his task.

Hiyoshi was about to curse that he didn’t fucking want it, but knew that Akaya would draw the line there. He clumsily reached over to the nightstand, searching for the tiny tube Akaya usually kept there. This was not the easiest task to do when you’re in the middle of an amazing blow job by your very capable boyfriend. He finally grasped it and dropped it into his boyfriend’s waiting hands.

Akaya smirked as he pulled away from Hiyoshi’s erection, only to lower his head more and lap at his boyfriend’s entrance before pushing his tongue inside with a pleased purr. He opened the lube as he worked and slicked up his erection and fingers before setting the tube to the side.

What the fuck was he doing down there? Was that his tongue?! Hiyoshi let out a feeble whimper and his hands moved, one two cover his mouth while the other went to his own hair, slightly pulling to have some kind of anchor to concentrate on.

Akaya pushed his tongue in all the way and curled it up to massage at Hiyoshi’s inner walls while his hand reached up to stroke his boyfriend’s erection. If his mouth wasn't already occupied, he would have smirked. His lover made such wonderful sounds.

Hiyoshi was going to pull his hair out. If Akaya didn’t take him soon and get it over with, he was going to come. He tried to open his mouth to alert his lover, but all that came out was, “Ahh! Akaya… stop…fuck!” He closed his mouth again and tried to contain himself as best he could while panting heavily behind his hand.

With a little groan, Akaya pulled his tongue out and kneeled between Hiyoshi’s legs, a smirk firmly in place. "All mine," he purred to himself and ran a hand over his slick erection once more before pressing up against his boyfriend’s entrance and pushing inside. He didn't go fast, but it was definitely no where close to how slow he normally went.

Hiyoshi opened his eyes to see Akaya above him with glazed pleasure filled eyes and another moan slipped past his hand at Akaya’s words. He could feel the stretching like an ache he longed for and his whole body shuddered at the intrusion. Almost unconsciously, he raised his hips to meet Akaya’s, wanting to feel even more of him.

Akaya groaned and gripped tightly at Hiyoshi’s thighs as he pushed himself inside completely and waited. Giving them both a moment to adjust. When he felt the walls around him relax a little, he started up a slow pace as he waited for the other boy’s body to accept him completely.

This slow pace was torturous. Hiyoshi wanted to feel his boyfriend moving in him now. “Damn it… brat… I...” He couldn’t form a complete sentence. The hand that had previously been in his hair grabbed hold of the sheets beneath him and he rocked his body against Akaya’s, trying to feel more of that friction. “Not… a damn… china doll…”

Akaya snorted and smiled down at Hiyoshi as he slowly picked up his pace. "W-nn-who said I was going slow for you?" he mumbled and groaned. "I… god… I'm so close already... If I go faster, I'll come too soon..." He tightened his grip on Hiyoshi’s legs and took a couple deep breaths to try and regain control before finally picking up his pace more.

Fuck. That was hot, knowing he could make his boyfriend respond like that. Hiyoshi eyes nearly rolled back as Akaya spoke. He arched his back and his hips were moving of their own accord with Akaya’s. To think this all started because of that stupid magazine… “You know…” he licked his lips as he tried to hold himself together, “You would look good in a gi…” Just the thought of Akaya in one of his long black gi’s… It sent another tremor through him and his inner muscles clenched down slightly on Akaya in response.

"I'll wear one," Akaya groaned then smirked a little. "We can try the position from page twenty-two when I do," he suggested and picked up his pace until the room was filled with the sound of skin slapping against skin, the bed creaking under them, and the sounds of their groans and grunts.

“I don’t think… I got that far…!” Hiyoshi started to say, but then his head fell back with a sharp intake of breath at a well placed thrust. His breathing became erratic as he was completely distracted by how Akaya was thrusting at just the right angle, making him see stars with every movement.

Akaya kept moving; his pace varying occasionally to keep it interesting and he moved one hand to stroke Hiyoshi with his thrusts because he wasn't going to be able to keep going much longer.

“Nnn… Akaya…” Face thrown to the side as Akaya took hold of him, Hiyoshi reached out with his free hand to touch Akaya wherever he could reach him, as if desperately seeking out even more contact. “I love you…” he whispered between moans, though he wasn’t sure if the words came out at all since he was breathing so hard. He could feel his release coming but tried to hold off longer for Akaya. “I… can’t much… longer.”

With one last almost violent shudder, Akaya let go and came hard inside of Hiyoshi with a loud moan. His movements stilled immediately as every muscle tensed and shivered with pleasure. As the waves subsided he started stroking Hiyoshi again, but slowly and almost lazily.

Hiyoshi felt Akaya thrust into him one last time and the heat spread through him, spearing him inside. His back arched again as orgasm tore through him, losing himself in the pleasure for a few moments. When he came to and the shaking subsided, he could still feel Akaya inside him and moaned. “Mm… Come here…”

Akaya leaned forward into Hiyoshi’s arms and tried to catch his breath. Damn, he was tired. He kissed his boyfriend’s neck and groaned. "I love you, Wakashi..." he mumbled and closed his eyes.

“I love you, too” Hiyoshi said back fondly as he ran his hands up and down Akaya’s back and up through his hair. Akaya had been really tired lately from all the tennis practice and apparently Inui’s new training menu. It was still early though and Akaya really needed a shower… but they could stay like this for a little while longer.

"Ya know," Akaya mumbled and smiled, "I'm glad I took that challenge that Gakuto gave me... I don't know what I'd do without you..."

Hiyoshi stopped his movements for a moment before continuing, “What challenge?”

"When you first got here, he said I was welcome to try and get the stick out of your ass, and I thought it sounded like fun," Akaya mumbled and hugged Hiyoshi, "I'm really glad I started hanging out with you."

“So… it was a dare to try and sleep with me.” Hiyoshi wasn’t sure if he should be upset or not, after all, things had obviously worked out for the two of them and he had never been happier, but still.

"Hmm... Something like that. Just to get you to relax because you always looked grouchy..." Akaya smiled a bit wider, "But I've always thought you were hot and wanted to sleep with you, and after a while... I didn't even realize it at the time, but I stopped sleeping with everyone because I wanted you. I wanted to date you... and keep you all to myself." He laughed quietly and opened his eyes, the green orbs sparkling with love and happiness.

There was no way Hiyoshi could even pretend to be mad now. He leaned up and kissed him soundly before leaning back and returning the look almost bashfully. His hand brushed through the front of Akaya’s bangs which then settled on his cheek as he snickered. “Did you tell him you won?”

Akaya laughed and smiled from ear to ear. "Yeah," he kissed Hiyoshi again quickly, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

“Perhaps I should be insulted.” Hiyoshi mock glaring up at him. “Do I need to prove to you that you still have a ways to go before you can claim victory over me?” He raised an eyebrow.

Akaya snorted and laughed again before kissing his boyfriends nose. "Whatever you say, sexy," he teased and slowly pulled out of Hiyoshi before sitting up to stretch. "I guess I should go take that shower, huh?" he mumbled, even though getting up didn't sound very appealing right then.

The sated mushroom was about to come back with some indignant reply, but then grunted instead as Akaya pulled out. He slowly sat up next to him, feeling his muscles protest, but he was used to it. “Yes, you should, but you still haven’t answered the question…” He smirked and leaned over to press his face between Akaya’s neck and shoulder. He didn’t feel like letting Akaya move away from him right then.

Akaya shivered and smiled. "I think you might have to, because I feel pretty victorious right now," he said with a little mischievous glint in his eyes.

Hiyoshi chuckled and wrapped Akaya in his arms, pulling him back against his chest. “That wasn’t the question I was referring to.”

"Then what question?" Akaya mumbled curiously and closed his eyes with a smirk as he leaned back against Hiyoshi.

A hand slowly made its way down Akaya’s chest making small lazy circles around his abs and stomach. “What do you fantasize about?”

"Oh, that question," Akaya smiled again. "Lots of things, though all of them involve you," he laughed and decided not to go into specifics. He didn't want to freak his boyfriend out too much or let him know how weird his tastes were.

“I should hope so,” Hiyoshi chuckled again, “Or else we might have a problem.” His arms tightened around Akaya. “But how am I supposed to keep you if you don’t tell me what you want?”

"What do you mean keep me?" Akaya raised an eyebrow and looked back at Hiyoshi, "You're stuck with me Wakashi."

Hiyoshi smiled, but it didn’t completely reach his eyes this time. He knew that Akaya loved him and would stay with him for now, but he admitted that he wasn’t good at this sort of thing. Unless Akaya told him what he wanted, he might not be able to please him, and if that happened, after a while, he would lose his brat to someone more experienced and open minded. “I don’t think it’s fair that I told you what I want, but you haven’t told me.”

Akaya frowned. He could see that the smile wasn't completely honest and he didn't like it. "You're worried I'll get bored and leave, aren't you?" he said gently and turned to straddle Hiyoshi. "Look, I'm not going to leave you. I love you and I will always be here, alright?" he reassured and smiled at his boyfriend.

Despite his boyfriend’s words, Hiyoshi still worried, but he wasn’t going to push it. He was a perfectionist, he had to be the best or it was never good enough, and he knew there were much better choices than him for his chibi demon. “Alright,” he answered as earnestly as he could, covering up any doubts Akaya might have of his certainty with a lingering kiss. As he brought the kiss to a close, he continued, “but still… if you don’t tell me, do you know what that means?”

Akaya shivered at the kiss and smooth words. "Oh, and what does that mean?" he asked curiously and smirked at his boyfriend.

Hiyoshi gave Akaya a resigned look as if he had a frustratingly large amount of work to do that was entirely the brat’s fault. “I’ll have to guess.” He wrapped one arm securely around Akaya’s back. “And guess,” and grabbed Akaya’s ass with the other, “Until I figure them all out myself.” He smirked. “Might as well start now.” He lifted them both up off the bed and started walking towards their shower.

Akaya laughed, wrapping his legs around Hiyoshi’s waist and his arms around his neck. "You're good at guessing," he smiled and kissed the other man lightly.


	31. Chapter 31

Sanada came back to his room early, expecting to have some time to sit and meditate. He opened his door and set his bag down, only to look up and see his devilish kohai looking at him with a deer in the headlights stare. Sanada looked down at the other man’s hands and his eye twitched. "What are you doing with my DVD's?" he said slowly and, to his credit, somewhat patiently. When the other boy just smiled and laughed nervously though, a vein budged out on his forehead. In two steps he'd crossed his room and taken the younger boy by the ear like a mother who just found her best china destroyed.

"Ow ow ow ow ow! Fukubuchou!! Leggo!!!" Akaya whined and tried to get away, but it felt like his ear was going to be ripped off. He was dragged kicking and screaming all the way back to his and Hiyoshi’s shared room. People all along the halls of the dorm opened their doors to see what all of the noise was about, but upon seeing the expression on the former military mans face, they all closed them again. "I'm sorry fukubuchou! I won't pick your lock anymore! Please just let go!"

"Hn..." Sanada growled and let go as they stopped in front of the door. He raised his hand and gave a quick rap on the door, only to see Akaya about to dart away. Striking like lightning, he reached out and grabbed his kohai’s shirt. In an instant he was holding the boy off the ground and glaring at him. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Heh, heh," Akaya smiled nervously and shook his head. "Oh, uh… Nowhere. Heh, heh." Crap. Escape plan had failed. He was going to have so many laps tomorrow.

Hiyoshi had just finished up his homework when someone knocked at the door. Akaya wouldn’t knock, and he wasn’t expecting anyone, so he unhurriedly made his way to the door and opened it. Sanada was holding Akaya up by the shirt in a very amusing tell-tale pose. Apparently Akaya had been doing something he shouldn’t have again, and had been dumb enough to get caught. Without saying a word, he raised an eyebrow in question.

"I believe this belongs to you," Sanada said flatly and held Akaya out toward Hiyoshi. He was tired and he didn't want to deal with his bratty kohai more than was absolutely necessary.

Akaya smiled cheekily at Hiyoshi and tried to look as innocent as possible in hopes that his boyfriend wouldn't kill him.

Hiyoshi suppressed the need to snicker at both Sanada’s sneering and Akaya’s ridiculously cute expression. He smirked and replied calmly, “I don’t want it” and closed the door.

Both parties blinked, sweat dropped, and then looked at each other. Akaya shrugged and Sanada’s eyes twitched.

One the other side of the door, Hiyoshi covered his mouth and let out the loud snicker he couldn’t contain anymore. Quickly composing himself, he then opened the door again to find them right where he left them. Schooling his face to look serious, he rolled his eyes and sighed with resignation. “Fine, give it here.” He held out his arms to receive the brat.

When the door opened again, Sanada put the smaller boy in Hiyoshi’s arms. "Keep it out of my room," he said flatly and turned on his heel and stomped off.

Akaya held onto Hiyoshi with a big grin. "Hi."

Hiyoshi looked down at his armful of brat and felt the need to roll his eyes again. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't drop you?”

"Because you love me?" the chibi demon responded simply and kissed Hiyoshi’s cheek.

Damn brat. “I hate you.” Hiyoshi glared at him, even though he knew it would have no affect on his bratty boyfriend whatsoever. When had he lost all of his intimidation skills?

"I love you too," Akaya said with a little laugh and kissed his boyfriend with a big grin on his face.

Hiyoshi allowed the kiss while carrying his bundle o' demon into the room, kicking the door shut with his foot. Forget his intimidation skills, when had the brat gotten him so wrapped around his little finger?

Finally pulling away from the kiss, Akaya smirked and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s neck. "It's like carrying me across the threshold," he teased happily. He had a lot to be thankful for at the moment. Sanada hadn't killed him like he'd expected, and his boyfriend was amazing enough to just accept him and not get mad or ask too many questions.

“Oh?” Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at that. “I didn't know you were so inclined to be the woman in our relationship.” Dropping him onto the bed, he crawled on top of him, looking down at him hungrily. “Not that I’m complaining…”

"I'm not," Akaya smirked up at his boyfriend and brought a hand up into Hiyoshi’s soft brown hair, "But I suppose I can let you wear the pants occasionally."

The mushroom-head unconsciously moved to press against Akaya’s hand and Hiyoshi closed his eyes. “Let me?” he sneered sardonically and moved his hands under Akaya’s shirt and up his sides. “Are you telling me I need your permission?”

"Something like that," Akaya purred and moved to press his lips against Hiyoshi’s, loving the feel of his hands on his skin.

“Mm… and what if I… disagree with your… assessment?” was said between kisses, not being able to hold back the smile forming.

"Then I guess you'll just have to convince me otherwise," Akaya said and smiled as well, because he loved it when Hiyoshi smiled, even if it did look increasingly... devious... uh-oh.

“As you say… love.” Using the grip he already had on Akaya’s sides, Hiyoshi straddled his boyfriend and mercilessly started to attack his sensitive sides with tickles.

Akaya’s eyes shot open and he started laughing uncontrollably, "Ah! AHAHAHAHAA---W-WAKASHI---AHAHAHA-S-STOP!!"

Hiyoshi laughed and held both of Akaya’s wrists in a tight grip so he wouldn’t be able to attack back. “Not until you take it back.”

The black haired boy laughed and wriggled under him and tried to tug his hands away so he could save himself. "Oh god! Hahahahaa-Stop---ahaha---ow--my abs--ahahahaha!"

The tickling continued until Akaya looked like he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, then Hiyoshi finally let him breathe and laid his head down on his boyfriend’s heaving chest with a grin. Akaya’s heavy breathing and fast heart-beat easily felt and heard, making him relax and smile happily on top of him. “So… are you ready now to acknowledge my supremacy?”

Akaya gasped for air and a few small chuckles escaped before he finally got a hold of himself. "No way," he chuckled again and hugged onto his boyfriend. "I say it's a draw."

Hiyoshi leaned up for a moment to kiss Akaya lightly on the lips, a playful gleam still in his eyes. “I think I can live with that,” then buried his head again against Akaya’s chest. If anyone ever asked, Hiyoshi Wakashi didn’t snuggle, but that was exactly what he was doing with a content sigh escaping his lips.

Akaya couldn't hold back his smile as he held Hiyoshi close and rubbed his back. "Yeah... Me too." He didn't really care what role he had. As long as he was with Hiyoshi, that was enough for him.

Hiyoshi knew he should get up, there were plenty of things he should be doing, but he was far too comfortable where he was. Taking hold of one of Akaya’s hands, he tangled it with his own and brought it to his lips. He slowly and lovingly began kissing and nibbling at Akaya’s fingers one by one.

The curly-haired demon closed his eyes and made a little happy noise at the attention to his fingers. "Mm... Feels good," he mumbled and opened his eyes again slowly to watch his boyfriend work.

Little by little, Hiyoshi explored over the palm of Akaya’s hand with his tongue, lightly sucking at the small calluses he must have gotten from tennis. Taking a moment to nuzzle into it; softly kissing the center. Once he was done, he tangled it with his own and turned it over, kissing and repeating the process on the back of his hand.

Akaya blinked a couple times and tried to keep his jaw from hanging open as he watched. Damn that was hot. "Wakashi..." he said softly and tried not to show just how much he was enjoying the attention to his fingers.

When the last piece of skin was tasted, Hiyoshi looked up into Akaya’s eyes and smiled fondly. Without letting go of his hand, he moved his body up over Akaya’s and settled down again when their bodies were at an even level. His leaned forward and gave Akaya’s lips the same treatment he had just given his hand, nipping and sucking softly with very little pressure, never taking his eyes off him.

If he hadn't already been in love with Hiyoshi, the curly-haired demon would have fallen for him right then. The attention left him breathless and wanting so much more, but for once, he realized he was content to just lay there and kiss. It was refreshing. He returned the kisses slowly and sensually, loving the way their bodies meshed together.

It wasn’t for sure how long they lay like that, merely holding and quietly kissing. It was a little frightening to Hiyoshi how much he wanted Akaya all to himself. It made him worry about… no. He wasn’t going to think about that right now. He only wanted to think about the chibi demon he loved in front of him. “I love you.” The words just slipped out and he was surprised by how easily they came to him. “I want you to stay with me,” he added with a hint of desperation in his tone.

"I love you too," Akaya smiled and ran a hand through Hiyoshi’s hair, playing with it slowly, "And I want to stay with you, more than anything," he reassured and kissed the other man again lightly.

Hiyoshi smiled at his words, feeling everything was right with the world. “What else do you want?” he asked curiously, wanting to give him everything.

"To beat Sanada-fukubuchou, Yanagi-senpai, and Buchou at tennis," the tennis player said simply and smiled from ear to ear childishly.

The tender moment somewhat broken, Hiyoshi laughed, he rolled onto his back next to Akaya, his face turning up towards the ceiling. “I was thinking more along the lines of long term goals, but okay.”

Akaya pouted as his boyfriend laughed and rolled to his side to face him. "It is a long term goal! Do you know how strong they are?! It's inhuman I tell you!"

“You’ll get there.” Hiyoshi said confidently, reaching out and flicking Akaya’s forehead lightly. “I remember you playing a pretty good game against Sanada not too long ago.”

"Yeah," Akaya smiled and looked very proud of himself. "It was a pretty good game, wasn't it?" He snuggled up to Hiyoshi’s side, "After was fun too."

Hiyoshi’s smile turned a little crooked. “Is it a bad thing that I think I’m starting to become attracted to you when you’re like that?”

"I don't think so," Akaya laughed and squeezed Hiyoshi’s middle. "I think you're really sexy when you're doing your martial arts stuff."

Hiyoshi snickered. That was nice to know, but… “I’m talking about…” not sure if he should say it, but what the hell, "when you’re so focused on the game, and confident, your eyes turn blood red… I’m not saying I enjoy watching you slaughter people on the court, but sometimes...” Oh yeah, that very public display of affection wouldn’t have happened afterwards if Hiyoshi hadn’t already been very turned on by Akaya’s game.

Akaya blinked a couple times then smiled childishly again. "You don't think it's weird or creepy or anything?" He asked excitedly and propped himself up on one elbow to look at Hiyoshi.

“Yes, it’s weird,” Hiyoshi said, leaning forward and kissing his nose. “That’s why I’m questioning my sanity for thinking something that should be creepy is such a turn on.”

Akaya wrinkled up his nose then smiled at Hiyoshi again. "Oh well, I still love you, even if you are crazy." he teased and kissed his boyfriend lightly.

“If I’m crazy, it’s entirely your fault,” Hiyoshi narrowed his eyes in mock anger. “I was completely normal before you came along.”

"Pft, yeah right," the chibi demon laughed and ran his hand over Hiyoshi’s chest. "You were no where near normal."

“Sure I was. I never did anything out of the normal.” The martial artist had a normal traditional upbringing, a normal planned future set up for him, nothing outstanding to make him stick out. Completely normal. “Remember, you once told me that I had to be one of the most boring people on the planet.”

"Well, I guess that's kinda true, but normal people aren't that grouchy all the time." Akaya lay back on his side since his shoulder was starting to go numb and snuggled up to Hiyoshi again.

“Thank you,” Hiyoshi said into his hair as Akaya snuggled up to him again, burying his face into massive amount of dark curls.

"For what?" Akaya mumbled and closed his eyes.

“For making my life a little less normal,” Hiyoshi wrapped his arms around Akaya and grinned, “It’s kind of boring being boring.”

Akaya laughed and got as close as physically possible then stole a kiss. "Happy to help."

“One thing I’m not sure I appreciate though…” Hiyoshi stole back another kiss, reveling in the taste of Akaya’s lips for a moment before pulling back and giving him his stereotypical grouchy look. “You’ve made me entirely too dependent on your lips.”

"They're addictive aren't they?" Akaya teased and puckered them at Hiyoshi before winking and kissing him again. It was so hard not to bust up laughing at that.

Hiyoshi couldn’t help it, laughter erupted from him at the look Akaya gave him, and the next thing he knew, he was half laughing, half kissing Akaya back.

Finally, Akaya dissolved into laughter as well because he just couldn't resist it when Hiyoshi laughed. He loved that laugh, even though he didn't hear it very often.

When their laughter started to die down, Hiyoshi couldn’t help but think as he watched Akaya smiling and laughing, that despite the problems, the embarrassments, the worries, and all of the unknowns… he couldn’t remember ever being even close to this happy before Akaya had come into his life. “Yes.” He smiled as he ran his hand through Akaya’s dark curls, adding a little bit of extra pressure and scratching lightly at the base of his neck, guaranteed to make Akaya putty in his hands, “Very addictive.”


	32. Chapter 32

Akaya had been acting strange for the last couple of days. He’d been mopey and quiet, which for chibi demon brats was very, very wrong. To make matters worse, Hiyoshi hadn’t been able to confront him on it. Akaya was very good at avoiding things he didn’t want to talk about. Hiyoshi knew Akaya wasn’t sleeping well, if much at all. There had been a few times in the last couple of days he’d woken up in the middle of the night to an empty bed, it took Hiyoshi literally wrapping himself around the brat and verbally assuring him that he loved him for the brat to fall back asleep.

On the good side of things, Choutarou was back for a visit after leaving for studying abroad in Venice for the last four months. The last couple few days had given them time to catch up. It’d been nice to see his best friend again.

Atobe, being Atobe, had organized a dinner get together for a few people. A few being anyone who wanted to show up. Shishido came for the visit to see Choutarou, and even Sanada had showed up for some reason. Hiyoshi had never liked Shishido; they had never hit it off well. However, everything had been fine; he could even say he enjoyed himself, up until the after party at the bar.

Hiyoshi was now convinced he was cursed when it came to bars. He couldn’t remember anything after dinner except for a few blurry images that didn’t make any sense to his brain. Apparently, he’d taken Sanada’s alcoholic beverage by mistake which was much stronger than anything he’d ever drunk before. Akaya told him it hadn’t been that bad. They’d danced, and something about making snide remarks about the people singing, and that was it. Nevertheless, due to Akaya’s behavior, he was starting to get the feeling that something else had happened that Akaya wasn’t telling him. Choutarou had gotten a little mad at him for apparently yelling at Shishido while he’d been drunk, but he could live with that.

Ready to get to the bottom of this, Hiyoshi had specifically told Sanada he would not be at Kendo practice today so that he could be home when Akaya got there. Sanada had seemed irritated but must have realized it had something to do with Akaya since he didn’t say anything about it and just nodded his consent. Sitting down on the bed, he read his book while waiting for Akaya to get back from class, determined not to allow this to go on any longer.

Akaya was tired. Physically and emotionally he was drained and he hated it. He hadn't been able to sleep because every time he tried he was plagued with nightmares. It had gotten to the point where the only time he tried to sleep now was when Hiyoshi forced him. But after zoning out in class twice and falling asleep once, only to wake up yelling 'He's mine!' at the top of his lungs, he knew he had to try and get some rest. After he finished his punishment of having to clean the classroom by himself, he trudged back to his room to try and take a nap before tennis practice. He knew his boyfriend was supposed to be in practice with Sanada, so he had a small window to get some rest without worrying about running into the mushroom haired boy.

Opening the door to their room, Akaya dropped his bag before looking at the bed hopefully, only to find his boyfriend laying there. He was tempted to turn around and leave, but he knew the other man would follow him. Damn.

When Akaya walked in a little later than expected looking even more exhausted, Hiyoshi immediately frowned and put his book down. There was definitely no way he could let Akaya avoid him anymore on the subject. He knew he needed to be tactful about this though, or else Akaya might get upset. He cautiously got off the bed and walked over to his lover. “Hey, brat, you’re back a little later than usual aren’t you?”

"I got in trouble in class and had to clean up the classroom...” Akaya mumbled and kissed the other man on the forehead. "I'm gonna take a nap before practice," or at least he was going to try. He was seriously beginning to doubt he would be able to though.

Hiyoshi reached out to hold him in place, not letting Akaya brush him off like that. “Don’t give me that shit. We both know you haven’t been getting any sleep.” He winced at his own words. ‘Oh, great way to be tactful, Hiyoshi,’ he immediately criticize himself. “I think it’s about time you told me why that is exactly.”

Akaya looked away and immediately got defensive. "It's nothing, alright. Leave it alone." He winced mentally at his somewhat harsh tone. Ugh, this was why he didn't want his boyfriend to be there. He got grouchy when he was tired.

Shit. Okay. Time to try that again. Hiyoshi pulled Akaya against him and wrapped his arms around him. “Akaya, I’m worried about you. Please tell me what’s wrong?” Good. That came out a little better, if not a bit more desperate than he personally liked.

The curly haired boy stiffened in his boyfriends arms for a minute, then slowly relaxed and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi in return before burying his face in the crook of his neck, "I just have stuff on my mind... It's nothing you gotta worry about Wakashi. I'll be alright soon..."

“Too bad. I’m already worried. And whatever you’re thinking about obviously isn’t going away.” Hiyoshi ran his hands up and down Akaya’s back in what he hoped was a soothingly manner, “So do us both a favor and stop being stubborn.” He pulled back and rested his forehead against Akaya’s. “I may not know much about these things, but aren’t you supposed to tell your boyfriend about shit that’s bothering you?”

Akaya turned his eyes away from Hiyoshi’s but didn't try to pull away from him, "Wakashi... I... Please don't. It's not important. I'm just being stupid alright? I'll get over it." He said quietly and finally stepped away. "I just need to lie down for a while..."

Enough was enough. This was getting ridiculous. Akaya was being stupid. Fine. Hiyoshi could do that, too. The minute Akaya was out of his arms, he walked over to Akaya’s ‘happy shelf.’ Grimacing slightly, he grabbed the stupid glass dildo off the shelf and held it above his head. With a completely serious expression he threatened, “Tell me what the fuck is wrong or say goodbye to the glass penis.”

Akaya blinked a couple times, and then his tired eyes, bloodshot in a whole different way than normal, went wide. "O-oi! Put that down! What did it ever do to you?!"

Hiyoshi smirked. “Exist.” Good, he had Akaya’s attention, “And it’s not going anywhere but the floor in many little pieces unless you tell me what’s wrong.”

Fucking blackmail. "You're a dick," he grumbled. Consequently, so was what he was trying to save. Ah, irony. "Fine. You wanna know what's wrong? What's wrong is that the other night, even when you had me sitting on your lap, all you could think about was that stupid tall silver haired guy!" he snapped and looked away. "Not only that, but when we got home and were fooling around, you just stopped in the middle and asked where he was. It made me mad! And it hurt..." He turned his eyes back to Hiyoshi with a glare in them. "Now put it down." He was going to have to get a lock for his closet or something.

Hiyoshi’s eyes widened and he put the glass dildo back on the shelf. He couldn’t believe what Akaya was telling him and didn’t know how to respond. This is what had been bothering him for the last week? It had been his fault… again? He sunk down onto his desk chair and looked down at nothing. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t know why he would do that. It didn’t make sense to him at all, but he didn’t doubt Akaya was telling him the truth.

Akaya sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. “It's nothing you have to apologize for, alright? You were drunk… It's not a big deal. I just... Do you like him or something? I don't get it..." He laced his fingers and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

Suddenly uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, Hiyoshi didn’t know what to say. Akaya probably deserved the truth. He wasn’t sure how to tell him without perhaps hurting him more, but he wasn’t going to lie to him either. “I liked Ohtori for five years, through high school and part of middle school.” As an afterthought, he added, “It was completely one-sided.”

Oh... That made sense. What did Hiyoshi see in that cutesy naive boy? He frowned a bit. "Did anything ever happen with him?" He couldn't really fault Hiyoshi for loving someone, especially since he'd loved Sanada for just about as long. But when he got drunk, he didn't start talking about him, especially not in the middle of fooling around.

Hiyoshi looked sideways over at Akaya to see how he was taking this, not really wanting to talk about it at all, but supposed he probably should. “Not really,” he sighed and leaned back in the chair, “Only kissed a few times.” It was strange talking to Akaya about this of all people. He’d never talked to anyone about it before.

"Oh..." Akaya suddenly had the urge to rinse his mouth out with mouth wash, but he resisted because he knew he was being stupid. He'd kissed a lot of people before and it didn't seem to bother Wakashi. How could he get mad at his boyfriend for having kissed a guy he cared about? But now was the moment of truth. "Do you still love him?"

The martial artist tensed as he heard the question. Did he still love Choutarou? Not too long before Choutarou had left for Venice, he’d promised him that he would get over him. Had he? He honestly hadn’t even thought about it. He’d been too busy being distracted and getting to know a certain demon brat. It took less than a second for him to reach his conclusion. Getting off the chair, Hiyoshi sat down on the edge of the bed and gave him a lopsided smirk. “I still care about him a lot as a friend, but I got over him a long time ago.” He leaned forward and kissed Akaya’s forehead. “Isn’t it obvious by now who I like?”

Akaya closed his eyes and let out a little sigh. "Yeah… It is." He smiled a little and kissed Hiyoshi lightly. "I'm sorry I worried you," he said gently and laced his fingers with Hiyoshi’s.

Hiyoshi returned the small smile and started to comb his free hand through Akaya’s hair. “Remember the second time you barged into my room after I got home from my parents place? You tried to molest me in my sleep if I remember correctly.”

Closing his eyes, Akaya leaned into that hand in his hair and thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, you look so cute and vulnerable when you're asleep," he laughed a bit and opened his eyes again to look at Hiyoshi properly.

Rolling his eyes, Hiyoshi continued. “I was tired from the weekend with my parents, but I was also upset because I had just finished a long talk with Choutarou. I promised him I would get over him.” He decided to conveniently leave out telling him that was also when they had kissed. “Honestly, it was much easier than I thought it would be to get over him.” He squeezed Akaya’s hand. “I was too busy getting to know a stupid brat who wouldn’t leave me alone to even think about it.”

Akaya smiled and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s neck to hug him tightly. "I love you, Wakashi," he said quietly and took a deep breath. In a matter of seconds his breathing evened out and he went to dead weight as he fell asleep on the other man. The exhaustion had finally caught up to him.

“I love you too, stupid brat.” Hiyoshi answered him softly and continued to run his hand through his boyfriend’s hair. “Next time, just tell me.” He kissed the side of Akaya’s head and tried to get up, but Akaya’s arms were tightly and securely wrapped around him, keeping him in place. He knew nothing, save one of his demon-sempai’s barging into the room and yelling, could wake him up and get him off him. He didn’t want to wake him up anyway. He resigned himself to a late afternoon in bed with a sleeping demon on top of him. Situating the two of them into a more comfortable position, he reached over to the nightstand and grabbed his book, conveniently placed there for times such as these.


	33. Chapter 33

Hiyoshi Wakashi was in a good mood. For once, he had woken up to a cuddly Akaya that wasn’t cutting off his circulation, classes had actually seemed interesting today, all of his work for the fraternity was done, he was caught up on homework, he hadn’t spoken to his father in over a week, Choutarou and he had just finished a nice relaxing lunch together, and his boyfriend should be at home for him to lavish attention on if he was good and deserved it. With a slight grin on his face that usually took effort on someone’s part to put there, he arrived at his dorm.

Akaya had just gotten out of the shower. He was relaxing naked on the bed with a bottle of water and an action movie playing to try and kill his boredom. It had been a dull day and practice had been the same as always. He kicked the freshmen’s asses, Sanada yelled, Yanagi-senpai calmed him down. Nothing new. He glanced over at the door as it opened and smiled. "Welcome home," he said like always, not caring that he was laying there naked with everything exposed to the world around him.

Hiyoshi walked into the room casually, not noticing at first that Akaya was completely bare on top of the bed. When he did, his only reaction was to chuckle and put his stuff down, though he did make sure to close and lock the door. Having been in this relationship for some months now, there were a few things he had grown accustomed to, one of them being Akaya’s distaste for clothing. Grin still in place, he walked over to the bed and leaned over to give his boyfriend a nice “I’m home” kiss. “Hello, bright eyes.”

Well that was odd. Akaya raised an eyebrow and looked at his boyfriend. No comments about his state of undress? No scowling? "Who are you and what have you done with Wakashi?" He mumbled and pulled the other man down onto the bed on top of him. "Hmm, you look the same, smell the same too..." He ran his hands up Hiyoshi’s sides and looked at him curiously, "Yet you're not scowling, you're smiling. I'm confused."

Amused, Hiyoshi couldn’t help laughing lightly and looked humorously down at his boyfriend. “Us aliens are very good at replicating our specimens. Don’t worry, your boyfriend will be fine.” His grin widened and he leaned down to peck Akaya playfully on the nose. “Until then, you’re stuck with me.”

"Oh whatever will I do?" Akaya returned sarcastically and grinned back at his boyfriend. "What's got you in such a good mood today?" He asked curiously and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s neck.

“I had a good day.” Was Hiyoshi’s simple reply, “I’m finally caught up on everything and had a good lunch.” Running a hand through Akaya’s hair, he started playing with the little ringlet curls, wrapping them around his fingers, “and unless you have something going on this evening that I don’t know about, depending on if you can earn it, I may just feel gracious enough to allow you to spend it with me.”

"Wow, you're so kind," Playful eyes laughed and Akaya kisses his boyfriend lightly, "So what do I gotta do to earn it?" He asked curiously and watched the other man.

Hiyoshi gave his boyfriend a contemplative look as if sizing him up. “Hmm… I don’t know if you have what it takes to earn my valuable time.” A challenging gleam entered his eyes. “Why don’t you just give it your best shot and I’ll let you know when you come close.”

"Hmm… I suppose I can give it a shot." Akaya laughed and rolled them over so he was hovering above his boyfriend, "Can I at least have a hint?"

“Haven’t even started yet and you’re already resorting to asking for hints?” Hiyoshi gave him a mock disapproving look. “How disappointing. Maybe I should go see what Choutarou or Gakuto are doing instead.” Even as he said so, he made no attempt to move out from under Akaya, quite content to stay where he was.

Akaya gave Hiyoshi a look of shock. "So heartless, Wakashi," he pouted and kissed his boyfriend again. He couldn't help the little amused smirk that sneaked onto his features though as they kissed.

“Are you trying to win me by calling me names?” Hiyoshi snickered into the kiss. “If so, then I highly overestimated you.”

"Oh, do forgive me," Akaya said with a little laugh, "I'm sorry to have upset you, Hiyoshi-sama." He used the politest language he knew and tried not to laugh again.

Hiyoshi sat up and leaned back against the headboard with his arms crossed over his chest, arrogant smirk firmly in place. “Well?” He raised an eyebrow expectantly at the naked chibi demon on his lap. “I’m waiting. Impress me.”

Akaya had no idea what Hiyoshi wanted him to do or how to act, so he did what he knew best. He started undoing Hiyoshi’s pants and kissing down his neck.

“Mm… Not that I’m complaining,” Hiyoshi chuckled, and tilted his head to the side to give his boyfriend better access to his neck, “but do you really think the only way you can impress me is through sex?”

Akaya blinked and sat back to look at him, his hand pausing at the zipper of Hiyoshi pants. He knew tennis, video games, and sex. How was he supposed to impress his boyfriend? "Uh... We could play tennis?" He sounded just as confused as he felt.

He’d meant it as more of a joke, but his boyfriend seemed to have taken it seriously. Akaya had a confused look on his face as if he honestly didn’t know what else besides sex he could do for him. Hiyoshi tangled the hand that was near his groin with his own and lifted it up to his lips, kissing it softly. “We can do that if you’d like, but I think I would rather keep you all to myself right now.” He enjoyed playing tennis with Akaya, but tennis was one of Akaya’s other great loves and he didn’t feel like sharing today.

"I want a hint," Akaya pouted at his boyfriend who was royally confusing him. "Do you want to play video games then?" It had to be that, it was the last thing he could really impress anyone with once sex and tennis weren't options anymore.

“And I thought I was the oblivious one.” Hiyoshi shook his head and leaned forward to kiss Akaya’s pouting lips lovingly, no real force behind it, just a chaste and almost innocent sharing of lips.

Akaya was about to argue when lips pressed against his. Fine, if that's how he wanted to play, then he was going to get sex, and he was going to be damn well impressed by it. He moved his hands to undue Hiyoshi’s pants completely and slipped a hand in to tease him while he kissed him back firmly and hungrily.

Hiyoshi moaned at the sudden contact but forced himself to stop Akaya from going any further. He caught both of Akaya’s hands and held them behind his back firmly, at the same time pulling away from the kiss. “I think you’re missing the point, brat,” he said gently against his lips.

Frowning at Hiyoshi, Akaya finally gave up. "Fine. I don't wanna play your dumb game then." Yes, he was being childish, but damn it! He didn't know what to do and he was getting frustrated.

Touching their foreheads together, Hiyoshi sighed, but he wasn’t giving up yet. “Sorry, I guess I’m not very good at this. Let me try again?” He loosened his hold on Akaya’s arms so he could move them if he wanted.

Akaya let his arms stay behind his back and half-glared at Hiyoshi. "Fine." Yes, he was still being childish but he didn’t care.

Despite the glare, Hiyoshi wasn’t deterred. He wanted… No, needed to show Akaya that he didn’t need sex, tennis, or anything else like that in order to impress him. He started by once again moving his lips lovingly over Akaya’s, almost maddeningly slow, sweetly tasting him and breathing in his scent. “You don’t have to be amazing at tennis or a video game guru to impress me.” He slipped his hands into Akaya’s behind his back and a red hue covered his cheeks, “You don’t even have to be amazing in bed… though it doesn’t hurt.” He grinned and kissed his cheek.

"Then what do I have to do?" Akaya asked curiously and flushed as well, "That's the only stuff I'm good at..." he mumbled and wriggled closer on Hiyoshi lap.

Ugh… The stupid brat still didn’t get it. Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at Akaya in frustration. “You’re going to make me say it… Aren’t you?” At Akaya’s continued confused look, his face turned a deeper red and he answered in a quiet embarrassed voice, “The only thing you need to do to impress me is… show me you… love me…” Fuck! That sounded so cheesy and sappy. He would have killed the brat for making him say it except for he wasn’t sure he would last long without him. FUCK.

As realization dawned on him, Akaya smiled wide and kissed his adorable mushroom. "I love you, Wakashi," he said happily and wriggled even closer to Hiyoshi in all of his naked glory. "I love you more than anything." If that was all he wanted, why didn't he say so in the first place?

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “I love you too, but you’re an idiot.” Honestly, how did he keep being put in these embarrassing situations? All he wanted was to hint he wanted a little loving attention from his boyfriend. “Maybe I should leave you here as punishment for taking so long.”

Akaya gave him the best puppy dog eyes he could muster and snuggled up to him. "Don't leave," he pouted. He didn't want to be left alone; especially not after Hiyoshi had just said something so cute. It was so rare for him to be that openly adorable.

Stupid eyes. Akaya had the most irritating eyes. They were too good at manipulating him into doing whatever the brat wanted and never ceased to amaze him with how quickly they could go from dark and alluring to violent red to glazed and bright. Right now he was giving him the ‘I’m too cute to leave’ look, and combined with all the snuggling, he knew he didn’t have a chance. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t put up a fight though. He still had his pride… “What do I get if I stay?” Akaya had better answer correctly this time.

"Lots of love and affection," Akaya said confidently with a big smile and pressed their lips together, still looking the picture of cute innocence, "And maybe a bit more." He winked and smiled before pressing his forehead against Hiyoshi’s.

Hiyoshi’s smile came back full force. Now THAT had been the correct answer. “If I’m to agree to this,” his arms wrapped around Akaya again to hold him back against his chest and run his hands up his bare warm back, enjoying the feel of his skin under his hands, “I want an example.”

"An example?" Akaya asked curiously and nuzzled up to Hiyoshi’s neck with a little purr, "What kinda example?" he mumbled and licked his boyfriend’s neck, loving the slightly salty taste.

Hiyoshi sweat-dropped and his head made a resounding thud back against the head board. Why had he picked such an idiot to fall for? Looking down at his boyfriend, currently curling himself into his body, he felt himself soften at the sight. He hadn’t had much choice in the matter. “Never mind, idiot.” He buried his hand in curls and despite himself, released a content sigh at the feel of Akaya so close and cuddly against him.

Akaya smiled and pressed as close as he could with a laugh. "I love you, Wakashi," he said again happily and pulled back just enough to kiss him again.

‘You better,’ the martial artist’s inner voice automatically supplied. ‘After all the idiocies I have to put up with.’ They stayed like that for a little while, Hiyoshi just enjoying Akaya’s closeness and feeling very laid back as he cuddled him back, every few minutes dropping a kiss to his head of curls.

Akaya slid his hand down Hiyoshi’s side and trailed his fingers over his boyfriend’s backside. He paused over his pocket though when he felt something round and soft in the other’s pocket. He raised an eyebrow and stuck his fingers inside to pull out the little condom packet. "Uh... Why do you have a condom?" He held it up almost accusingly.

In his relaxed state against Akaya, Hiyoshi didn’t completely hear the question. “Hmm… What?” He asked without opening his eyes and only burying his head further in the head of curls.

Akaya leaned back and bopped the tip of Hiyoshi’s nose with the little package. "I asked why you have a condom? You planning on sleeping with a girl sometime soon?" He asked with a little grumpy pout.

“Huh?” Hiyoshi wrinkled his nose as plastic came in contact with his nose and his eyes crossed in confusion at Akaya’s ridiculous question, until he remembered where the stupid thing had come from. He rolled his eyes. “Oh, that. Someone gave it to me.”

"Oh," Akaya mumbled and looked at it curiously. "Ribbed, huh?" he mumbled and flipped the little package over. "Oh, and self lubricating. Cool. These are expensive," he mumbled and tossed the package onto the nightstand.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes again at Akaya’s knowledge since he couldn’t care less. “One of my fraternity sempai was giving them out. Someone must have told him I have a girlfriend since he basically forced me to take it.” He had intended to throw it away but forgot about it, but now that he thought about it… “Why have we never used a condom?” He asked curiously. He wasn’t an expert at this or anything and his sex-education was minimal, but weren’t they supposed to have used them at least in the beginning?

Akaya blinked a couple times and just stared at Hiyoshi for a minute, "You..." he tried not to giggle and instead just smiled at his boyfriend, "Are you worried about getting pregnant?" He grinned like a mischievous child at him.

Face flushing red, Hiyoshi smacked Akaya lightly on the side of the head and turned his face away embarrassed. “Idiot! Aren’t they for other things… as well?” Great, now Akaya was making him sound naïve.

"Yeah, but unless you want to use them, we don't have to," Akaya finally chuckled a little. "I got tested for any kind of STD’s, so I know I'm clean," he looked at Hiyoshi with a gentle smile. "Do you have something I should know about?"

Hiyoshi would never admit that he had to think twice before he remembered what a STD was, though he couldn’t remember exactly what it stood for. Quickly hiding the confused look on his face, he figured since Akaya wasn’t worried, he shouldn’t be either. This was one of the few things his boyfriend actually seemed competent in. He mumbled a quiet “No,” intent on changing the subject.

"A sexually transmitted disease, Wakashi," Akaya explained patiently, his features completely un-judging. He knew he was more educated in that department than most people and he didn't mind sharing his knowledge.

“I knew that!” Well… he kind of did. Now Hiyoshi wished he had actually taken some kind of sex-education course in school instead of getting all of his information second hand from overhearing locker room conversation and Gakuto. “In other words, we don’t need the condom, so just throw the damn thing away.”

"Of course you did," Akaya laughed and looked at the condom. "Nah, let's try it sometime. Ribbed feels pretty good for both parties," he grinned and decided he didn't need to tell Hiyoshi that he was the only person he'd ever slept with without a condom.

Hiyoshi mumbled incoherently under his breath, embarrassed by the conversation. Finally changing the subject, he asked randomly, “Are you finished preparing for the Tanabata festival?” The martial art fraternity stand would be fairly simple since all they were doing was handing out fliers and doing a few small demonstrations. The open campus event would hopefully be relatively painless. He could only hope that he wouldn’t be roped into doing anything else.

"Yeah, the classes have been going well. I might become a mes--messure---mesmoir?" Akaya stumbled over the word and frowned for a moment. "It would be a cool job," he grumbled, irritated he couldn't pronounce the French word.

“Masseur,” Hiyoshi corrected grumpily. He’d known Akaya had been taking massage classes as part of his physical education degree, and found out the day before he’d signed up to help out at a massage booth for the festival. He’d just gotten over the idea that his boyfriend would be touching the majority of campus, but now he was thinking about making a career out of it?

"Oh," Akaya snuggled up to Hiyoshi’s neck and nuzzled it with a little happy sigh. "My teacher said it pays really well and I could do it after tennis."

Hiyoshi gave an answering grunt as a reply and glared up at the ceiling for a moment. It wasn’t his place to tell Akaya what to do with his life, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.

"What?" Akaya mumbled and looked at Hiyoshi curiously. "You're upset." He'd gotten used to being able to tell when something was bothering his lover, but he had no idea what he'd said wrong to change his boyfriend’s mood.

“It’s nothing.” Hiyoshi assured him and leaned over to kiss him lightly. That last thing he wanted to do was hinder his boyfriend from what he wanted.

"Alright," Akaya mumbled, a bit unsure, but he kissed him back and snuggled up to him.

Glad that Akaya hadn’t questioned him further, Hiyoshi relaxed again and comfortably ran his hand up and down Akaya’s arm. After a moment, he continued, “Since we’re on the subject, I believe I was promised a sample of one of these massages, but I’ve yet to receive one.” He raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Is there a reason you’ve been practicing so much on everyone except your boyfriend? Or are you so unconfident in your skills that you don’t want to embarrass yourself?”

"Then roll over and I'll give ya one," Akaya laughed and sat up. "I just didn't know when would be a good time." That, and he wanted to get really good at it before he tried it out on his boyfriend.

Now that the massage was actually offered, Hiyoshi hesitated. He didn’t usually allow other people who weren’t professionals to touch him like that, but this was Akaya. “Just don’t break anything.” He turned over onto his stomach.

"Yeah yeah," Akaya laughed and straddled his boyfriend’s hips. Sliding his hands up under the other man’s shirt, he started massaging his back slowly like he'd been taught. His fingers searched out the knots and started working them out slowly while he hummed happily to himself.

Hiyoshi closed his eyes and the small smile from earlier returned to his face as Akaya’s hands set to work. He’d obviously been trained for what to look for, but he also obviously hadn’t found his rhythm yet that Hiyoshi was used to from his family’s masseur. However, it seemed like no matter what Akaya did to him, he had a talent for making him unconsciously relax, and was frustratingly fantastic at making him feel good.

Akaya loved the way Hiyoshi’s muscles twitched under his fingers and it brought a big smile to his face. "Does it feel good?" he asked curiously and traced over the well defined lines of his back.

Hiyoshi grunted out an affirmative, not feeling the energy at the moment for a full response.

Akaya’s smile widened and he pushed his boyfriend’s shirt up more to expose his back. As his fingers worked, he leaned down to kiss the soft skin.

Hiyoshi let out a very small almost-moan and forced himself to speak, his voice coming out in a deep drawl. “I hope… this isn’t your standard procedure. Do you usually give your clients this treatment?”

"No, but you're not my standard client," Akaya laughed and kissed along his spine gently. "Only you get this kind of treatment."

Hiyoshi grunted out another affirmative that clearly stated ‘I better be’ then relaxed more into Akaya’s gentle administrations. If Akaya kept this up, he may even start to approve of his turning it into a career.

Akaya laughed again and went back to focusing on what his hands were doing. It was almost like a video game, having to pinpoint and destroy the knots. He liked it, and it was relaxing. It was something that he felt like he could do right.

Akaya liked to dig. The family masseur mostly used heat and rock pressure to coax the muscles to relax. This was a bit harder and felt wonderful, especially since it was coming from his boyfriend. Hiyoshi might have fallen asleep a few times except for when Akaya attacked a knot, he was merciless, and he had to grit his teeth a few times to keep from making any unwanted noises.

Once Akaya certified Hiyoshi’s back as knot free, he kissed it again and sat back beaming, "There, how's that feel?"

“Well, nothing seems out of place.” Hiyoshi slowly rolled until he was on his back under Akaya, “I would say mediocre at best, so I suggest you keep practicing.” He brought one of Akaya’s hands to his lips and kissed it softly, “but I suppose I could suffer through letting you practice on me.” In fact, he would prefer it if Akaya only practiced on him.

"Mediocre, huh?" Akaya pouted a bit, but then leaned down to steal a kiss. "I suppose I'll just have to practice a lot more." Hiyoshi would make the perfect test dummy for his massages.

Hiyoshi chuckled and pulled Akaya down for a longer open mouthed kiss. He murmured between breathes as their lips and tongues met, “Just a warning… I’m a harsh client, and an even harsher critic.”

"Hmm," Akaya purred and smiled into the kiss. "I'll keep that in mind." He chuckled and deepened the kiss with a happy groan as he rubbed up against his boyfriend, quite content with the friction of Hiyoshi’s pants against his bare skin.

Hiyoshi’s earlier thought had been correct; Akaya was way too talented at making him feel good. Right then, it was almost torturous. His boyfriend was on top of him, completely nude, and rocking against him while kissing him in that familiar and loving way that made his heart race. In the mean time, he was aroused and fully dressed, making for a very uncomfortable situation, but still too happy with the state of affairs to actually change it. Another small noise sounded from him and a low groan resembling Akaya’s name was whispered between their lips.

Akaya moaned quietly and ran his hand down along his boyfriend’s side and down his thigh. He loved the way that firm body moved under him, but he wanted a bit more than that. In one swift motion, he rolled them over so Hiyoshi was on top of him. He smirked up at him and wrapped his legs around his boyfriend’s hips.

Hiyoshi used their new position to his advantage, rocking his hips down firmly against Akaya’s, knowing the denim of his jeans rubbing hard against Akaya’s naked arousal would drive his boyfriend crazy. He wasn’t sure how much longer he would last before he finally tore his own pants off and just took him, or Akaya took him. It didn’t really matter. He continued his rocking motions and started to nibble on Akaya’s sensitive earlobes.

Akaya arched up against Hiyoshi with a deep moan. "Nngh… Wakashi…" He buried a hand in his boyfriend’s hair and gripped at the other’s back with his other hand. "You're such a tease," he mumbled with a little chuckle.

A deep laugh came from the mushroom-headed one’s throat. “Entirely your fault.” He kissed his way eagerly to Akaya’s face again, loving the feel of Akaya writhing underneath him and the hands on him holding him down possessively. “I blame you completely.”

"I'm completely innocent," Akaya laughed and spread his legs a bit more, offering himself to Hiyoshi with his best innocent expression.

“Innocent?” Hiyoshi raised an amused eyebrow down at his lover spread open before him. Akaya was one of the least innocent people he knew, but if that’s how he wanted to play it… “If you’re so innocent, I guess I better be extra gentle with you…” ‘Unless, of course, you wish to admit otherwise…’ With that thought in mind, his hands, lips, and hips began anew, assaulting Akaya’s body with very soft kisses and nips.

Damn it. Akaya hated when his plans backfired on him. He groaned and writhed under his boyfriend. "N-ngh... Wakashi... Come on... Please..." He spread his legs more and gave Hiyoshi a pleading look.

Hiyoshi would have laughed if he wasn’t torturing himself as well, but he was determined to carry this out. “I’m sorry, love. Am I going too fast for you?” He had undone his pants zipper only a moment earlier to relieve some of the pressure and now gave the little nipple he was currently playing with one last little nip before sitting up and divesting himself of his t-shirt. “Don’t worry. I’ll try to go slowly.” He leaned back down to ghost his breath over Akaya’s naval and started to trail even lower.

Fuck. This was torture. "Wakashi~" Akaya whined and wiggled a bit. "Don't go slow, please." He reached down to stroke himself since it didn't look like his boyfriend was going to do it for him.

Stopping Akaya’s hand from reaching its destination, Hiyoshi smirked. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do with the innocent?” His eyes held a mischievous glint to them before adding, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you’re satisfied.” Without warning, he leaned down the rest of the way to take his boyfriend’s straining member into his mouth.

Akaya’s eyes went wide and he arched up immediately. "Oh god..." He brought a hand up to cover his mouth and groaned. "Wakashi..." he whimpered and spread his legs more.

Hiyoshi didn’t do this often; in fact, it was rare. Akaya seemed to enjoy constantly randomly cornering him and doing this to him whenever possible, but to Hiyoshi, it was still a little embarrassing and kind of intimidating next to his boyfriend’s seemingly never ending amounts of experience. Akaya seemed to enjoy it when he did though, and Hiyoshi was by no means an amateur anymore. Akaya’s moans were more than encouraging as he went about doing his best driving his boyfriend insane.

Akaya propped himself up on his elbow to look down at Hiyoshi. The sight was breathtaking. He ran his hand through the soft brown hair and grinned. "God you're hot..." he mumbled, "I want you to screw me into the mattress Wakashi, please," he said in his best slutty voice with his best sultry smile.

If Akaya spread his legs any further, they were going to break. Amused, Hiyoshi pulled back and replaced his mouth with his hand, then leaned up to let Akaya taste himself on his lips. “…and you still claim to be an innocent?”

Damn damn damn. "No, no, I'm not innocent," Akaya admitted with a groan. "I'm needy and as far from innocent as you can get, so screw me alright? Please?" He wriggled and pulled Hiyoshi into a deep firm kiss.

What else could Hiyoshi do when his boyfriend spoke to him like that? He let go of Akaya’s erection so he could finally hurriedly get his pants off while his head was still in Akaya’s grasp and lips firmly attached to his.

Akaya groaned and kissed him hungrily as he reached over to grab the lube. He opened the little bottle he'd just added to the drawer recently. They'd run out of the tube stuff. He coated his hand and reached down to prep himself while he waited for his boyfriend to strip.

Pants and boxers off, Hiyoshi all but moaned in relief when his hardened arousal was released from being confined all this time. Impatient now from waiting for so long with a moaning and nearly begging brat underneath him, he removed Akaya’s hands from prepping himself and placed the hand coated with lube over his own erection, groaning into the kiss at the contact.

Akaya stroked him, coating his length completely before wrapping a leg around Hiyoshi’s waist and guiding the other man to his entrance, urging him in with his strong legs.

Hiyoshi forced himself to push into Akaya’s body gently and unhurried, breaking away from the kiss and breathing hard into his neck as he did so. Today was not a day for hurting. He wanted Akaya to feel no pain, only pleasure. It was slow and torturous, yet somehow wonderful to feel how little by little every bit of Akaya’s body opened up to him until he was fully sheathed. “I love you…” he whispered into his neck with a small smile, trying not to lose himself, “even if you aren’t at all innocent.”

Akaya laughed and kissed the side of Hiyoshi’s head. "I love you, too," he said gently and clenched his muscles down around his boyfriend’s length with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Fuck. With a low moan, Hiyoshi started moving inside and over Akaya, setting a medium pace. Not too slow, but not yet fast and desperate, wanting to draw it out and just feel his boyfriend wrapped around him. He pushed into him at just the right angle, knowing from experience where to aim for. One hand was gripping Akaya’s waist for balance, while the other automatically went to his neglected erection to stoke him with every thrust.

Akaya let out a happy sigh of contentment and let his head fall back as he arched up, muscles clenching down around his lover with every deep thrust that angled just right. "Nn… yes…" His hands ran over Hiyoshi’s chest and sides, tracing the defined muscles his boyfriend had worked so hard to obtain.

Hiyoshi’s breathing quickened, the muscles under his skin clenching wherever Akaya touched. The picture Akaya made underneath him was breathtaking. He hitched up Akaya’s legs, pulling him closer and leaned down to run his lips over Akaya’s neck, anywhere they could reach. The experience he had with physical relations was extremely limited, but he sincerely doubted it could get much better than this. “Mm… My earlier assessment… may have been mistaken…”

"Oh?" Akaya murmured with a little breathless laugh before another low moan escaped him and he tilted his head to let his boyfriend get at more of his throat. If anyone had told him a year ago that he'd be where he was, sleeping with the grouchy mushroom head from Hyotei, he would have probably decked them. Or if they were hot, screwed them against the nearest flat surface to prove they were wrong, but now that he was there, he couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

“Yes…” Hiyoshi said in between breaths and tasting skin, “It seems… you are entirely capable… of impressing me… with this…” And it wasn’t just because it felt so damn good he could lose himself at any moment. It was the way Akaya looked at him and held him back. Akaya could get sex anywhere, but instead he chose to be there with him… and that impressed him more than anything else ever could. The pace picked up and he continued feasting on his boyfriend’s neck and throat, not sure how much longer he could last but wanting to hear and feel Akaya under him as long as possible.

Akaya laughed, moaning again as he wrapped one leg around Hiyoshi’s hips to pull him in even deeper. "Haa… Leave marks… Nn… Kay?" He wanted to get up later and see the evidence of their activities, not to mention broadcast to everyone that he was indeed taken. Maybe it was just his sadistic side that loved when a girl that was talking to him got that disappointed look when she saw a hickey on his neck.

Hiyoshi’s only response was to bite down hard on Akaya’s flesh, and then continue to suck even harder on the slightly salty surface. He knew his boyfriend liked marks, and he never minded giving them to him. He kept up the pace as long as possible, but finally had to pull away and breathe. He could feel the exertion in his legs and his breath came faster. He squeezed Akaya’s member in a tighter grip as his movement became frantic. “Akaya…”

The marks and the tighter squeeze on his erection shook him straight to his core. Just a little more... Hiyoshi whispered his name and he was gone. With a strangled cry of pleasure, Akaya arched up against his boyfriend and came hard between them, his inner walls clamping down around the other man.

Even before Akaya’s release, Hiyoshi had already lost himself and dropped over the edge nearly at the exact moment Akaya’s inner walls tightened around him almost unbearably. Fingers dug into Akaya’s hips and he thrust into his boyfriend a few more times, riding out the waves of pleasure that crashed over him. His eyes were closed as he finally slumped down completely onto his boyfriend, the feelings of pleasure slowly waning as feelings of satisfaction and contentment took its place.

Akaya held his boyfriend close and rubbed his back lazily as he sucked in air greedily. His whole body tingled and occasionally shivered with aftershocks of pleasure.

Nestling into his boyfriend’s embrace, Hiyoshi’s nose nuzzled Akaya’s neck, breathing in their mixed scents as he tried to get his breathing back under control. He didn’t want to move, but knew it would become uncomfortable for Akaya if he didn’t pull out soon. Once he had faith in his ability to move again, he pecked Akaya’s lips once before lifting himself up.

Akaya groaned and took a deep breath as Hiyoshi pulled out. "I love you, Wakashi," he said happily and watched the other man with an adoring sparkle in his eyes.

Expression relaxed and pleased, Hiyoshi lay back down feeling languid and lazy. He was starting to feel the usual pull towards the shower he always felt after sex but ignored it. “I guess you won.”

"Won what?" Akaya mumbled and closed his eyes before stretching out like a cat in the sun.

Hiyoshi smirked and closed his eyes as well. “You don’t remember what the prize was for impressing me?”

Akaya thought hard, trying to force himself to remember, but only drew blanks. "No..." Damn it.

Not surprised in the least, Hiyoshi teased, “Well, if you don’t remember, I guess I don’t have to give it then.”

"No! You gotta give it to me since I won!" Akaya pouted and gave Hiyoshi his best puppy dog eyes.

Hiyoshi chuckled at the cute puppy dog expression and pulled Akaya on top of him, the familiar weight over his already sensitive skin making his body hum in appreciation. He looked up at him with mirthful eyes. “The prize is me, idiot,” His eyes became darker and his smile turned devious, “Though it’s completely up to you whether or not you want to… take me.”


	34. Chapter 34

Hiyoshi woke up to incessant kicking and feeling the blood flow completely cut off from one of his arms. However, he didn’t even need to open his eyes to know what, or more accurately, who it was. He was used to this. Sleepily, his free hand came up searching for Akaya’s head of hair to pet it, which usually calmed the chibi demon in his sleep.

The aforementioned chibi demon was rolling around and groaning in his sleep, he was fighting like always. The image of the three demons standing over him laughing chased him in his dream and cornered him. Why the court had walls around it, he would never know. When a hand touched his head, he felt a soothing warmth surge through him and the demons disappeared. He stopped rolling and opened his eyes slowly, "Hmm?"

The hand in Akaya’s hair didn’t stop combing through the ebony locks until he heard a sound indicating the other boy was conscious. Peeking an eye open, Hiyoshi forced himself to wake up a little bit more to make sure Akaya was out of whatever nightmare hole he dug himself into this time. Seeing Akaya’s sleep filled open eyes, he slurred, still half asleep, “Nnn… I can’t feel my arm, brat.”

"Oh, sorry..." Akaya mumbled and rolled over to let Hiyoshi’s arm get the blood back in it. "Thanks for waking me up." He yawned and stretched lazily.

“You were having a nightmare again.” It wasn’t a question. His boyfriend knew Hiyoshi didn’t approve of all the nightmares Akaya was plagued with, and even though he knew it wasn’t technically Akaya’s fault, he couldn’t help but feel helpless since there was nothing he could do to make them go away.

"Yeah..." Akaya mumbled and rolled over to snuggle up to Hiyoshi’s side again, this time leaving his arm free so it didn't go numb again. "They're not as bad as they used to be..." he muttered and nuzzled his boyfriend’s neck. He remembered the days where he would wake up in a cold sweat and screaming from nightmares. Getting older solved a lot of them. The hormones evened out and his dreams became less intense, but sleeping with someone always helped that much more and helped him sleep deeper. That didn't mean he was free of the nightmares, far from it, but at least they weren't as bad.

Hiyoshi’s hand resumed combing through his brat’s hair and he closed his eyes when Akaya’s head settled on his chest. The blankets had been completely tossed off of them at some point during the night, but Hiyoshi had ceased needing blankets since Akaya liked to basically sleep on top of him most of the time anyway. His body relaxed and wanted to go back to sleep, but he decided to stay up for now since he knew it would be a while before Akaya would be able to again. “What do you usually have nightmares about anyway? Would it help to talk about it?”

"Lots of stuff," Akaya mumbled honestly and sighed. "The one tonight was about tennis..." He closed his eyes and just enjoyed the fingers in his hair, "but sometimes they're about something happening to my family... or you..."

“Oh.” Maybe he shouldn’t have asked. Hiyoshi wasn’t very good at comfort, and he wasn’t an expert at deciphering dreams or anything. “I don’t have them very often now, but when I was a kid, I had them a lot.” Most of them he couldn’t remember, but there were a few still very vivid in his memory.

"What were they about?" Akaya asked curiously and opened one eye lazily to look at his boyfriend.

“Losing, mostly.” Hiyoshi grimaced. “Losing to my father, my brother… everyone. Failing at a task… and being left behind.” His hold on Akaya unconsciously tightened. He hadn’t thought about it in a long time, but they were still unpleasant memories… and fears. It was a fact he had learned long ago; if you aren’t one of the best, you’re no longer wanted.

"I'll never leave you behind," Akaya said happily and closed that eye again. "I will totally kick your ass in tennis though," he teased gently, feeling the way Hiyoshi had tensed up.

“And I will totally kick your ass in everything else,” Hiyoshi answered smugly, and relaxed again, a challenging grin coming to his face. “Someday, I’ll even beat you at one of your beloved video games.” He chuckled and leaned forward to lightly kiss the top of his head.

"And that will be the day hell freezes over," Akaya laughed and nipped his boyfriends neck teasingly. There would always be at least two things he could beat Hiyoshi in. Everything else didn't matter.

Hiyoshi didn’t bat an eyelash. “Then I figure you’ll appreciate it since it will make home much more comfy for you and your fellow demons.”

The chibi demon just laughed and cuddled closer.

Hearing Akaya laugh made Hiyoshi’s lips turn up in a small secretive smile. At least Akaya seemed to feel better now. “What did you do at night when you were younger to make them go away?”

Akaya blushed a bit and looked away. "Crawled into my parent’s bed... If I went to my sister she would just laugh at me..."

Yeah, he could see that. After meeting Akaya’s family, Hiyoshi could envision Akaya’s mother cooing and coddling her baby. “It’s nice that your family is like that. Going to my parents was never an option.” His father probably would have seen it as being weak. “My brother and I shared a room when we were kids, so sometimes… I guess I would wake him up and he would come over to my bed and uh… yeah.” It was kind of embarrassing saying that, but it was one of the reasons why he and his brother were close. Now that he thought back on it, many of his nightmares had left after his brother decided he didn’t want to inherit the dojo and it was left to him instead.

"Well, I'll always be here if you have a nightmare," Akaya said with a smile and kissed his boyfriend’s chest, "Just like you're here for me."

Sometimes his boyfriend could be so sappy… and Hiyoshi would never in a million years admit that now and then he liked it. “Good,” he said softly as the hand that had been in his boyfriend’s hair trailed down to run up and down the skin of his back lazily. He turned his head to look over at his alarm clock. “My alarm will go off in an hour. You going to try and get some more sleep?”

"Nah, I think I'll go for a walk," Akaya sat up and stretched again before climbing over his boyfriend. "You go back to sleep."

“Do you want me to go with you?” Hiyoshi asked from his position still on the bed. It seemed cold now without Akaya in the bed to keep him warm.

"Nah, it's cool. Get some sleep. I'll probably go do some strokes and stuff." Akaya wandered over to his dresser to get out a track suit to wear. It was black and yellow and oddly reminiscent of the old Rikkai uniform that he loved.

Hiyoshi nodded and watched his boyfriend for a moment before leaning down off the bed to pick up their fallen blanket. He scooted over partially to Akaya’s side of the bed since it was warmer, his eyes slowly closing as Akaya was finishing preparing to leave.

When Akaya turned back around, he found his boyfriend asleep and smiled. With that, he left to go try and make them a breakfast that wasn't black and charred. He pulled out his cell phone and called his mom to make sure he got things right this time.

Hiyoshi woke up an hour later on the dot when his alarm clock went off. He grunted and stretched, reaching to turn it off, confused at first when he didn’t find Akaya next to him. He was a slow riser and it usually took him a while to become completely conscious in the morning. After a few minutes of just laying there, he sat up slowly and rubbed at his eyes, still not feeling completely awake.

Akaya’s alarm on his cell phone went off at the same time Hiyoshi’s alarm did. He put the breakfast, this time not burned at all, on a tray then headed for their room. He opened the door with one hand and backed through it with a big smile that said he was very proud of himself. The tray was covered in pancakes, toast, four eggs, and orange juice for them to share.

The barely conscious boy had been in the middle of attempting to stand up and get ready for the day when Akaya suddenly entered the room with a big tray of food. Hiyoshi’s eyes widened. “Did you go to the cafeteria or something?” The food didn’t look slimy or greasy enough to be cafeteria food.

Akaya beamed at the other man with pride practically oozing off of him. "I made it all."

Looking back and forth from the plate of perfectly normal looking un-burnt food to Akaya’s face and back, Hiyoshi raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Who helped you?”

"No one," Akaya declared chipperly and set the tray on the night stand, "I did it all by myself."

He couldn’t help it. Hiyoshi glanced warily at the food again and then back to Akaya’s glowing features. ‘It’s sad that looks can be deceiving…’ he thought with trepidation but wasn’t going to be the one to take that look off his boyfriends face. “It looks good,” he said sincerely and picked up a fork, scooping up some eggs. He slowly brought it to his mouth and cautiously took a bite. Eyes widened again in surprise. They were normal… maybe even good.

"Thanks," Akaya’s big smile didn’t falter even for a moment. He'd been practicing a lot to finally make breakfast right and had started a couple fires in the kitchen. Thankfully, every time he cooked, he pulled down the smoke alarm and disabled it and kept the window open for ventilation. He watched Hiyoshi carefully, eyes sparkling with hope that he'd finally gotten it right. "Well? How's it taste?"

Hiyoshi was sorely tempted to tease him and ask who really made it, but the hopeful expression on Akaya’s face quickly changed his mind and he smiled genuinely. “It’s good. Are you sure you’re really my boyfriend? The chibi demon who manages to burn everything he touches in the kitchen?”

It was a mystery how Akaya managed it, but he smiled even more and his ego took up most of the room. "I practiced a lot!" He said proudly.

“I can tell.” The mushroom-headed boy laughed and pulled his boyfriend down for a quick chaste kiss, whispering a quiet “Thank you.” His boyfriend must have really practiced hard to improve his cooking this much. He deserved a little praise. “What’s the occasion?”

"No occasion," Akaya said with a little shrug. "Do I gotta have one?"

“No, just curious as to why you went to the trouble to make breakfast in the first place.” If he could sleep, Akaya usually slept late and rushed to class. If not, he went jogging. “It doesn’t matter though, so sit down with me and help me eat it. It’s good, but I don’t think I can eat it all myself.” Akaya obviously hadn’t needed to take the time to do this, which made Hiyoshi wonder if there was an ulterior motive… which wouldn’t be at all out of character for his chibi demon, but for now he would enjoy it.

"I can be nice without a reason," Akaya said with a little laugh and sat down on the bed next to Hiyoshi to get his own plate and start munching. He honestly wasn't sure what had made him want to make breakfast that day, but he'd had a good feeling about it when he woke up. He was just glad the feeling wasn't wrong... again.

“Tell me that again when you try to use this as collateral to talk me into doing something for you later.” Hiyoshi teased and took a bite of not-burnt toast.

"K~" The curly haired boy chimed happily and grinned as he munched down on a pancake slathered with butter and far too much syrup to be healthy.

Not that Akaya needed something like this in order to talk him into doing things for him, Hiyoshi thought with a shake of his head. He took a sip of their shared orange juice then placed the glass closer to Akaya knowing his boyfriend would need it any moment.

After finishing off half of the pancake, Akaya’s eyes got a little wider and he chugged down a few swallows of orange juice with a little sigh. "Wow... That was sweet..." he eyed the last half then dove in with a happy smirk.

“I thought you made half of this for me.” Hiyoshi chuckled and stopped Akaya’s descent onto the other half of the pancakes with his fork. “Don’t I get to try some?”

Akaya pouted a little then instead went after one of the eggs, pancakes completely forgotten. It was one of the advantages of having a short attention span.

More than a little amused, Hiyoshi took a bite of the rather syrupy looking pancakes and winced slightly. Holy gods, how much sugar had the brat put in there…? “On second thought… You can have the pancakes,” he took another sip of the orange juice to wash down the overly sweet taste in his mouth.

"Yay!" Akaya munched on the pancakes happily, loving every bite. "Mm..." He leaned against Hiyoshi’s side and grinned at him, looking like he was in heaven.

Hiyoshi could only half stop from returning the ridiculous grin, which resulted in an awkward half smirk. He rolled his eyes to make up for it and self-consciously cleared his throat. “Although you’re cooking has exponentially improved, I hope you’re not planning on doing this too often.” He gladly finished off what Akaya had left of the eggs, beginning to feel full.

"Nah, not that often, I'm lazy," Akaya garbled with his mouth half full and finished off the pancakes with a happy sigh. "Mm… So full…" He laid back and closed his eyes, big smile still on his face.

Not wanting to leave any leftovers, Hiyoshi ate the last piece of bacon and drank the remainder of the orange juice. “Good. With breakfasts like that, you’re going to make me gain weight.” Well, gaining a little bit of weight probably wouldn’t be a bad thing, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tease his brat about it.

Akaya laughed and got up to pick up the tray. "I guess I should go do the dishes so the RA doesn't yell at me again."

“I’ll do it.” Hiyoshi offered, standing and picking up the tray before Akaya. “You cooked after all.” It was only fair, and he had to admit he was a little curious to see if the communal kitchen was still in one piece. “Thanks for breakfast. I’ll be right back.”

Akaya smiled and laid back down on the bed with an arm under his head. He really did have an awesome boyfriend. "Alright, I'll wait here." He watched his boyfriend leave the room and grinned from ear to ear. Maybe nightmares weren't always that bad.


	35. Chapter 35

Even though it was early on a Sunday morning, Hiyoshi’s alarm clock went off at eight o’clock. It was the signal that it was time to wake up and get ready for the day. He looked over to where Akaya was still sleeping, hanging half off the bed. "Time to wake up brat," he said while stretching his legs out, nudging his boyfriend in the process.

"Nnn…" Akaya groaned and opened his eyes slowly before climbing back up onto the bed and rolling over to his side to look at his boyfriend. "Wha-?" he mumbled and blinked at him, "why are we up? It’s not a school day..." If he didn’t have to be awake, he sure as hell didn’t want to be.

Hiyoshi sat up with a loud yawn. He’d thought of about a hundred different ways of doing this, but in the end settled on the most straightforward route. "You want to go to Disneyland with me today?" he asked casually as if asking if he wanted to go out to breakfast.

"Yeah sure," Akaya answered automatically, then the words registered in his mind. He sat up rim rod straight and stared at Hiyoshi in surprise. "Wait, what!? You actually... want to go to Disneyland with me?!"

Shrugging, Hiyoshi got out of bed and started to get changed for the day. It wasn’t until he left the bed that he was reminded that he was still naked from last night’s activities but only shrugged. He was way too used to being undressed in front of and by his boyfriend. "Only if you want to, but if we're going you have to get up and get ready now. I want to reach the station by ten."

After taking a moment to admire the greatest view to wake up to in the morning, Akaya leapt out of bed and scrambled over to his closet to find something to wear, not caring even for a second that he was buck naked since he was usually more comfortable naked than clothed anyway. In a matter of minutes he had on a blue Mickey Mouse shirt with badly spelled English all over it and a pair of shorts, and not to mention, the most comfortable sandals in the world. He was ready.

Hiyoshi chuckled at Akaya’s obvious excitement but continued to get ready in a much more sane fashion. Wearing a comfortable pair of jean shorts and a plain off-white button up shirt, he pulled on his usual walking shoes and waited at the door. "Ready?"

"Not yet!" Akaya chimed happily and gave Hiyoshi a big hug then a warm good morning kiss. "Now I'm ready!"

Hiyoshi grinned into the kiss, loving the feel of his boyfriend’s lips against his in the morning. "Let’s go," he murmured with the small smile. He pushed Akaya out the door and locked it behind them.

Smiling and bouncing in his seat the whole train ride, Akaya’s eyes constantly moved over the faces of the other passengers and their surroundings. It took all he had not to run off the train when the doors opened at Maihama Station. He took Hiyoshi’s hand and all but dragged him to the ticket booths.

It seemed to take forever to get there. They had to switch trains four times and Akaya had been acting like an energetic five year old who couldn’t sit/stand still, which was actually normal behavior for him. Breathing a sigh of relief when they finally made it to the station, Hiyoshi tried not blush when Akaya took his hand and dragged him to the ticket booths. He saw others were doing it too, but most of them were small children dragging their parents.

"Two adults for Disneyland" Hiyoshi told the teller and paid the 11,600 yen. Turning back to look at Akaya, he smirked. "I wonder if I could have passed you off as an overgrown child." He certainly was acting enough like one.

Akaya stuck his tongue out at him and dragged him inside and down the world bazaar. He wasn't interested in shopping (yet!), it was the rides he was after. Without hesitation, he dragged his boyfriend into Tomorrowland and toward one of his favorite rides; Space Mountain.

Having never been to a large amusement park like this, Hiyoshi looked around curiously as he was literally dragged down through the front entrance to the park. He was about to question where they were going in such a hurry when he was pulled through a large walkway surrounded by large blue pillar... things. Tomorrowland? That’s what the sign said. "This doesn't look very much like tomorrow" he commented off handedly, then thought that sounded ridiculous since he had no idea what the hell tomorrow was supposed to look like.

"The front’s kinda lame, but it gets better once you're inside!" Akaya chimed and squeezed Hiyoshi’s hand, ignoring the odd looks they were getting. He didn’t care what anyone thought today, they were in Disneyland!!!

Hiyoshi was dragged to the front of a very odd shaped white building where it looked like literally hundreds of people were waiting. The wait time on the sign said nintey minutes. His eye twitched and he looked over at his still overly excited boyfriend who had still not let go of his hand. "We’re going on this?"

"No, no, we're getting fast-passes for it so we can go on something else while we wait," the child trapped in a man’s body laughed and took both of their passes over to the machine, only to return a moment later with the other passes. "Alright! Now we're going to go on Star Tours!" Without waiting for an answer, Akaya had Hiyoshi’s hand in his again and was dragging the other man toward the ride with a much shorter wait.

Hiyoshi didn’t question him since it sounded like they wouldn’t be getting in that horrendously long line. The next thing he knew, he was in a dark room with heaven sent air conditioning. "What kind of attraction is...?” There was a life size C3PO in front of him. Talking... and moving. He wasn’t sure if he should be creeped out or fanboy like Jiroh during one of Atobes matches. He settled for just letting his jaw drop.

Akaya turned to look at Hiyoshi with a giant smile on his face. "Come on, or we're gonna miss our shuttle to Endor!"

"We’re... going to Endor?" Hiyoshi asked in confusion, sounding slightly distracted, focusing on the awesome R2D2.

"Yeah, yeah!" Akaya agreed, practically glowing with excitement. "You're gonna love it!"

As they continued on to another room, though Hiyoshi was disappointed to leave the last one, he was instantly distracted again. Usually he was always careful to keep a close eye on Akaya, especially in public, but this time it was Akaya hurrying him along to catch up with the line as he tried to withhold his excitement at the moving and talking droids (not to mention the randomly moving objects in small cages). He liked droids.

It was hard not to laugh at the barely restrained excitement behind his boyfriend’s eyes. "Wa~ka~shi~" Akaya laughed and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek with a mischievous smile, "Come on, it just gets better from here..."

The kiss broke the mushroom-capped boy out of his stupor and he glared at his boyfriend, but he followed to catch up with the rest of the line. The ride workers separated them into aisles and they watched a corny video with foreign people in weird costumes, but he supposed it was acceptable since Chewbacca was in it... even though some damn brat flashed a camera in his face. He could empathize with that.

For once, Akaya’s focus was on something other than the cheezy video of people who kind of looked like his dad in the 70's (what his mother saw in that man he’d never know). Instead, it was focused completely on his mesmerized boyfriend. The expression on his face was better than any movie he'd ever seen before.

When the door opened and they were let in, Hiyoshi had to force himself to walk forward normally. He squeezed Akaya’s hand which he forgot was still in his and this time it was his turn to drag him inside. They were going on a spaceship!

Akaya couldn’t hold back the laugh anymore, it was too great. His boyfriend loved Star Wars. He never would have guessed, but there was no denying it now, not after Hiyoshi literally dragged him into the ship. He sat down next to his boyfriend and buckled himself in as instructed, anxious to see his lover’s response to the ride.

Hiyoshi was buckled in and ready to go, too excited at this point to realize he was acting like all the little kids in the room with wonder in their eyes. The minute the screen dropped and the droid announced himself, his eyes widened and he was hooked. Despite knowing logically that they weren't actually going into space, when the ship moved... holy shit! The damn thing moved! He clutched at the arm rests and a huge smile appeared on his face that he wasn't even aware of. It remained there for the entirety of the ride.

Akaya laughed and smiled as the ride started, but as they got into the comet he glanced over at Hiyoshi and his breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t remember Wakashi ever smiling like that before. That smile looked really good on his boyfriend… He knew exactly what he wanted to do after they were finished with the ride, provided they survived the star destroyer.

When the lights turned back on and they stood up to exit the ride, Hiyoshi immediately self-consciously wiped the smile from his face and crossed his arms over his chest. He was never going to admit just how much he’d enjoyed that.

By the time Hiyoshi’s expression changed, it was too late, the damage had been done. Akaya grabbed his boyfriend’s arm and pulled him towards the exit, and then to the nearest dark place where he could molest him to his happy little heart’s content. Unfortunately, the nearest dark place that didn’t have an hour long wait was Snow White’s Scary Adventure.

Hiyoshi had expected once out of the ride that Akaya would interrogate him on how he’d liked it, in which case he would have to feign nonchalance, but instead, he found himself being dragged deeper into the park by a very determined Akaya. When they stopped, he looked up and face faulted. Akaya wanted to go on a princess ride!? "Why the hell are we going on this?" He may have to kill depending on the answer.

"It's got a short line," Akaya answered simply and a few minutes later they were seated in their own little car ('Sneezy' not that he really cared who they got). As soon as the car disappeared from view, Akaya made his move. He leaned over and gave Hiyoshi’s ear a little nip to get his attention, then pressed their lips together, ignoring the ride completely in favor of running his hand up his lover’s thigh.

Why did they have to get the Sneezy car? Oh well, it was better than Dopey. Hiyoshi had just resigned himself to the next few minutes of torture when Akaya’s true objective was revealed. "Akaya..." he said in a warning voice before his lips were captured. A small groan escaped as Akaya deepened the kiss and he felt the hand on his thigh. Firming his resolve, he pulled away a bit breathlessly. "Akaya..." he tried again, "this is a family ride."

"It’s dark. No one can see," the chibi demon murmured huskily and let a little smirk grace his features. However, a moment later, the smirk was gone as he let out a little, very un-masculine, yelp. "That skeleton just talked to us!!! Why is there a skeleton in a kids ride?!"

Hiyoshi was in the middle of convincing himself not to let his boyfriend molest him when suddenly the high squeak assaulted his ears and he was being clung to. At Akaya’s words he looked around and found what Akaya was whining about. Heh, maybe this would be better than he thought. With a smirk, Hiyoshi wrapped his arms around Akaya and whispered into his ear, "What’s wrong, brat?" He gave the ear a little nibble, mimicking what Akaya had done to him a moment ago as the somewhat creepy abnormal trees went by. "Talking skeletons and poisoned apples not your thing?" Right on cue, the witch appeared out of the house seemingly holding said poisoned apple out to Akaya.

Akaya yelped again and promptly hid his face against the other man’s shoulder. "That's not funny!" He snapped grumpily and half glared at Hiyoshi as they finally came into a happier area of the ride. This part wasn't so bad. Snow White was kind of hot and---holy crap!! He hated this ride!!

On the contrary, Hiyoshi was quite enjoying himself. Now they were in a mine that looked as though it would cave in on them any second. Akaya's remarks were making him laugh, but he ran his hand the through the other boy’s hair comfortingly anyway since he was a good boyfriend like that. Seriously? Who got scared on a princess ride? It looked like it was the end though since the dwarfs were about to send the witch over the cliff. Then the doors in front of them abruptly opened and the ride was over. He quickly untangled himself from Akaya. He may not have been on very many rides, but that was a very odd way to end one. Did the villain win in that movie? He didn’t think so…

"What the hell kind of ending was that?!" Akaya gaped at nothing in particular as they exited the ride and started back out into the crowds of Fantasyland. "The bad lady didn't die! There was no happily ever after! That's the worst ride ever!!" Not to mention, it had totally ruined his molest-Wakashi-mood.

Hiyoshi let out a little snort at Akaya's outburst. "I actually kind of liked it," he teased with a small grin, walking a little faster in front of Akaya.

Akaya glared at him, but still laced his fingers with Hiyoshi’s anyway so they didn't get separated in the crowds. "Where should we go next?"

Hiyoshi’s face gave way to its usual blush when Akaya took his hand again. Now that they weren't running through the park, dragging each other, it would be a lot more noticeable that two guys were holding hands, but he didn't want to disappoint Akaya today, so he held on despite feeling uncomfortable. "It doesn't matter to me. Whatever you want is fine." He looked around the area they were in. He saw teacups with people spinning in them really fast... No. "What's that one?" he asked, pointing to a large odd looking pastel clock tower.

Following his gaze, Akaya’s eyes lit up. "Oh! That's ‘It's a Small World.’ It's really fun, kinda weird, but definitely one we should go on!" He started leading them through the mess of people and within a couple minutes they were in line for the ride.

Hiyoshi wasn't sure about this one. There were mostly really small kids and their parents in line and the clock itself was kind of creepy looking in its own pastel high chiming kind of way. But hell, if a princess ride ended up being enjoyable, he might as well give Akaya the benefit of the doubt. He let Akaya drag him into the line which thankfully looked like it would be inside mostly. Though he could stand large amounts of heat, the sun beating down on him was rather annoying. Right as they were about to go inside, the clock gave a louder chime and a bunch of dolls starting appearing out of it. "Akaya... just what kind of ride is this exactly?"

"A boat ride," Akaya answered simply and watched the dolls dance around and announce the time with big sparkly eyes.

A boat ride? That didn't seem so bad. Maybe the weird dolls outside had nothing to do with the actual ride. Willingly, Hiyoshi entered the building. The air conditioning felt nice and the line didn't look terribly long. The walls had odd colorful paintings on them and it looked as though they were systematically putting people in little boats which then floated off into a small hole with badly written English above it. Maybe they were going to see some kind of slide show.

Akaya just went with the flow of traffic, leading them along the line until it was their turn to be loaded into a boat. They got the back row all to themselves and Akaya sat close to his boyfriend’s side, just in case they'd added a witch or something else creepy to the ride while he'd been gone.

Hiyoshi smirked as Akaya sat close to him again, not minding the closeness in the back of the small boat. Everything was fine, until he realized as they got closer to that hole in the wall, the cheesy music was getting louder… and lyrics were added. Little by little got his eyes grew rounder and his face turned pale. He was in a fucking nightmare. There were dolls everywhere and they were singing.

Akaya turned his attention from where he was nodding his head with the dolls and mouthing the words, to Hiyoshi who'd seemed to have gone rigid in his seat. The look of sheer terror on his boyfriend’s face made that demon part of him giggle and say 'paybacks a bitch' in his head. The other part of him, the good part, took his boyfriend’s hand and kissed his cheek, then started singing along. Okay, so maybe that side wasn't that good either.

There were thousands of them. Singing in foreign languages and swaying back and forth to a god-awful tune that his boyfriend seemed to like singing along with. Hiyoshi moved away from him, curling into his own little protective shell and seethed between clenched teeth. “Do you really have to do that?”

Akaya just moved closer. It wasn’t like there was anywhere his boyfriend could run without abandoning ship. "No, but you laughed at me on Snow White. Besides, I like this song."

If it had been any other person in the world to see Hiyoshi’s glare, they would have abandoned ship. The dolls and their creepy little eyes were going to his head and his boyfriend was only making it worse. Using his leg, Hiyoshi pushed his boyfriend back to the other side of the boat. “You. Stay,” he commanded in a gruff voice then closed his eyes and ears to the world, trying to block all of his senses from the nightmare world he’d entered.

Like Kirihara would do what he was told. Heh. If he did that, he wouldn't be a demon of Rikkaidai. "Wakashi, they're not going to hurt you." He scooted closer again and put a hand on his boyfriend’s thigh. "Are you... scared of them? They're just animatronics..."

“I AM NOT FUCKING SCARED OF THEM!” Hiyoshi hollered as his concentration was broken. Everyone on their boat looked back at them with disapproving eyes and Hiyoshi sunk lower in his seat as if he could meld into the plastic pastel nightmare. This was all Akaya’s fault. He’d been perfectly fine ignoring everything until Akaya had… HOLY SHIT! Why the hell were there animals in here too looking like they were going to eat small children with their shit eating grins? Oh shit, the elephant… “Don’t. Touch. Me,” he seethed in a low voice and lowered his head.

Blinking in surprise, Akaya just stared at Hiyoshi with his mouth hanging open. "Woah..." He made sure to stay quiet the rest of the ride and just looked around at all the dolls and animals like a little kid. Thankfully, the ride ended a few minutes later and Akaya made sure to stay a safe distance from his boyfriend until they were out of the building and back in Fantasyland.

Hiyoshi exited the ride quickly and quietly, looking down so he didn’t accidentally make any eye contact with anyone. His eye twitched again one last time when he saw what looked to be alien mushrooms on lily pads seemingly laughing at him. His pace picked up toward the shining light of… FREEDOM! The sun had never felt so good. If he ever heard that song again, someone was going to have a very deadly martial artist on their hands. “Let’s go.” He walked off in no particular direction, trusting his boyfriend would follow after him. He needed to get out of pink-land.

Akaya smiled a little, but made sure to hide it from Hiyoshi. He trotted after his boyfriend happily, still just happy to be at Disneyland with him, even if he was scared of small world. Hesitantly, he asked, "So uh... What do you wanna do next?"

“You decide. Just as long as it’s not here.” Hiyoshi was no longer in the mood for happy land or whatever the hell this place was called.

The chibi demon’s stomach answered for him with a large rumble. "Can we go get food?" He asked and pointed to a sign that said restaurant.

Hiyoshi shrugged and followed the sign. Now that he thought about it, it was already noon and they hadn’t eaten yet. He’d completely forgotten about breakfast in the face of Akaya’s excitement that morning.

Akaya trotted along next to him. He loved Disneyland. The signs led them up to Grandma Sara’s and, at the smell of food, Akaya perked up like a dog and practically dragged Hiyoshi inside. He pulled him over to the line and stared up at the menu, debating if he could eat everything on the menu or just three things...

Hiyoshi wasn’t terribly hungry, the doll experience had made him lose most of his appetite, but he knew Akaya would get on his case if he didn’t eat. He ordered the chicken doria and an oolong tea. It looked like the smallest meal on the menu without looking at the children’s section.

Akaya got the mushroom and pasta salad, the hamburger steak with over seasoned rice, and a HI-C Orange. The lady looked at him like he was insane but, damn it, he was hungry. He carried the tray to a table that had just been cleaned and mumbled a little 'ittadakimasu~' before digging into the very appetizing looking food.

Hiyoshi wrinkled his nose at Akaya’s salad and sighed. ‘Akaya better not have gotten that just to tease me,’ he thought sourly. He couldn’t stand mushrooms, and not just because they were attached to a nickname he couldn’t get rid of. “Ittadakimasu” he echoed half heartedly and started in on his own food. After a few chews, he got a confused look on his face, which gradually developed into a full out disgusted grimace. “Damn it!” There were mushrooms in his doria!

"What?" Akaya asked curiously with a raised eyebrow and one mushroom hanging out of his mouth like a shiny capped cigarette. "What's wrong?"

Hiyoshi looked up at Akaya then quickly averted his eyes again. He thought he was going to be sick. “Ugh… There’s mushrooms in my doria,” he grumbled and forced down another bite of fungus infested food.

"Mushrooms are good," Akaya stated simply and unceremoniously reached over with his fork and plucked one of the pieces of mushroom out of his boyfriend’s dish with a little happy noise of triumph.

“No, they’re grotesque, unsightly, and sometimes even deadly.” Stubborn as he was though, Hiyoshi refused to show any weakness. He had paid for his food so he would damn well finish it. He stuffed another bite into his mouth and tried not to choke. Eww… “Have as much as you want.” He wasn’t hungry anyway.

Akaya smiled and took another mushroom filled bite before returning to his own amazing mushroom and pasta salad. He finished in record time then started on his heavenly smelling hamburger steak. Yes, life was good.

As long as it was finished, Hiyoshi supposed it didn’t matter who ate it. “Here.” He scooted his tray over to Akaya’s side of the table. “If you like mushrooms so much, take it.”

"But what are you gonna eat?" Akaya asked curiously, but started munching down his boyfriend’s food as well. He was a growing boy, he needed to eat. Ok, so he wasn't growing that much anymore, but he still claimed it to be a valid excuse for his bottomless pit of a stomach.

“I’m not hungry,” Hiyoshi replied flatly, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against his chair.

"You still need to eat," the green-eyed demon gave Hiyoshi a little glare, but continued to eat.

“I will later.” It was cute that his boyfriend was trying to take care of him, but Hiyoshi was a big boy and could take care of himself. “After you finish we can go on whatever you want.”

"Hmm... Alright," Akaya conceded and went back to work on their food. If Hiyoshi didn't eat later he'd kick his ass, but for now he figured it was fine.

Hiyoshi drank his tea and waited for Akaya to finish his meal so they could leave. Hopefully the mushrooms wouldn’t continue to follow them into whatever they did next.

Soon Akaya pushed away the tray of empty plates and stretched with a happy groan. "Done~!" he chimed happily and smiled at his boyfriend.

“Then let’s go.” How Akaya managed to eat that much food and not be sick, Hiyoshi would never know. He stood and made his way towards the exit. “Where do you want to go next?”

"How 'bout the haunted mansion?" Akaya suggested and followed along just behind Hiyoshi. "It's one of my favorites," he smiled, then added off handedly, "Oh, and it doesn't have any talking creepy dolls."

“Fine.” If Akaya liked it, Hiyoshi doubted the haunted mansion was actually at all frightening. Surprisingly, his boyfriend was kind of a wuss when it came to scary things. He waited for Akaya to catch up and lead. This was one of the few places it seemed he could trust him not to fall asleep and get lost.

"It's really creepy, but you know, it's supposed to be. It's not some weird princess ride or somethin."Akaya shrugged and led them back down to the ominous gates of the mansion with a little I-just-ate~ bounce in his step. Eating always gave him tons of extra energy and he was ready to take on the park.

As long as there were no more mushrooms, Hiyoshi was good. He followed along next to Akaya as he led them to a large red brick house. It didn’t seem particularly ominous and there were a lot of small children in line. Yes, his boyfriend was probably just a wuss. As they got in line, he smirked. “Am I going to have to hold your hand during the ride to make sure you don’t run away screaming?”

"I won't run away screaming!" The demon in his own right snapped and glared at Hiyoshi, but still laced his fingers with his boyfriend’s stubbornly. The line was slow and kind of boring, but there were cool looking graves. When he tried to read them though, he frowned. "This sucks. This is Japan. They shouldn't write on the graves in English..."

Hiyoshi’s smirk only grew as Akaya snapped at him. Was it bad that he thought it was cute when Akaya was offended? He let him take hold of his hand again, figuring after that childish response, people would just think he was mentally challenged and needed extra assistance. With a chuckle, he started to translate the graves for him. He wasn’t great at English, but he had done a lot of traveling and had a lot of experience using it. “They’re mostly bad puns.” He pointed to a small one with a pig on it. “Old Rosie. Finally went to hog heaven.”

Akaya flushed a bit as his boyfriend read the grave stones to him. It wasn't fair that his boyfriend could read them so easily, but he was happy to know what they said. "What about that one?" He asked curiously and pointed to the statue of a frog with a little plaque under it as they moved closer.

Some of them were actually amusing, such as ‘Our duck Skimmer shouldn’t have visited the neighbors before dinner’ and ‘Our Squirrel Buzz, He stopped to see if the cat was there. It was.’ Hiyoshi looked to the one Akaya was pointing to. “Old Flybait. He croaked.”

Akaya paused for a moment taking in what his boyfriend had just said then laughed. "That’s awesome!" he said happily. He looked at the letters, trying to read it in English. "He croaked, huh? Why do their letters have to be so weird...?" he mumbled to himself, but his fascination only lasted a moment more, then the line moved and he was distracted yet again. "We're almost there!"

As pointed out, it looked like they were almost in. Hiyoshi hoped this ride was worth the long line in the hot and humid weather. Oh well, at least the line itself had been somewhat amusing.

As they walked inside, Akaya’s eyes went wide and he took in the decorations with amazement. He'd only been in the original Haunted Mansion in California on one of the trips his dad had taken him on, so this was a whole new experience for him. "It's so big!" he exclaimed and waited obediently as the cast member told him to. He looked at the portrait of a man on one wall and raised an eyebrow. "Heh? Who's that?"

Hiyoshi’s attention was currently captured by a small child being held in his mother’s arms in front of them. The kid couldn’t have been more than two or three years old and was staring at him with two adorably wide eyes. It was cute. He gave the kid a little grin, and then Akaya asked him a question, stealing his attention back. “How am I supposed to know?” Hiyoshi asked incredulously, looking up at the rather odd portrait of a young man… who was progressively getting older. Then the child in front of him started crying.

Akaya’s jaw dropped as the picture began to age and he stared at it mesmerized. "Holy crap... It's--what the…" Unconsciously, he scooted closer to Hiyoshi’s side and kept his eyes glued to the picture like he was afraid the man would leap out of the frame and eat his little demonic soul.

Hiyoshi was starting to get angry at the mother for bringing her child on the ride when the kid was obviously frightened. He noticed his own big kid starting to have a similar reaction but just rolled his eyes and squeezed Akaya’s hand just as two large doors in front of them opened, beckoning them inside.

Akaya was glad to get out of the room with the creepy picture and into a much more familiar one. The relief was obvious on both his face and that of the three year old who kept staring at him and his mess of hair, while he remained oblivious to it. "Cool, I can actually understand it now," he mumbled, not really meaning to have said that out loud. He didn't like admitting he didn't know English, especially not when people knew he was half.

It was certainly interesting. The way the room stretched and portraits went from innocent to uh… disturbing. The voice over the microphone was a bit overly cheesy, but even Hiyoshi had to admit it was a little creepy. There was a crash and his whole body tensed automatically as he looked up. Was that supposed to be a body hanging from ceiling? Another set of doors opened and he was more than happy to leave the room which was quickly becoming claustrophobic.

Akaya was practically glowing as they moved into the hallway that led to their doombuggies. He liked being scared when he expected it, like going to horror movies and playing games like Silent Hill. Being unexpectedly scared (like on fucked up Snow White rides) was not his style. He held Hiyoshi’s hand tightly in excitement and stayed close so they didn't get separated.

Having never actually been in a haunted house before, Hiyoshi honestly thought the scary would consist of people dressed in sheets, jumping out and saying “boo”. The actual ride was not what he’d expected at all. Trying to hide his slight uncomfortable-ness, he walked slightly behind Akaya with his head tilted down, letting Akaya’s excitement lead them to wherever they were going.

Akaya glanced over at him as they climbed into their doombuggy and their ghost host told them to not touch the safety bar. "You alright?" he said a little worried and put his hand on Hiyoshi’s thigh with a concerned look on his face.

“Of course I’m alright, idiot.” The martial artist may have said so a little too snappishly to be convincing. He really was fine. There was no way some oddly shaped seats with self-moving seatbelts in a crowded black room that they were leaving now to go into a darker room and he couldn’t see anything and there was some really weird music playing in the back ground and… It didn’t bother him at all. He crossed his arms over his chest. It was just a ride, he would not be intimidated by a damn children’s ride.

Akaya just smiled and kissed his cheek. "Alright." He snuggled up to the other’s side in silent support and let his eyes wander over the room, taking in everything as they went with a gold-fish-like attention span.

Other than a few mild jumps that occurred while going through the grave yard and nearly having heart failure when passing the dead bride with the a eerie beating heart, Hiyoshi thought he was handling the ride quite well. Yes, he thought more than once about clawing at his ears to turn himself deaf so he didn’t have to hear the screaming and misplaced soundtrack, but over all, he was doing fine. How much longer did this ride go on for?

As they heard the warning about hitchhiking ghosts, Akaya’s face lit up and he scooted to the far side of the doombuggy and put his arm over the empty space, grinning like a mad man. When they came along the line of mirrors, he looked over to them and laughed at the face of the tall ghost wearing a top hat and smiling back at him. He loved this ride.

Why was Akaya moving away from him? Hiyoshi tried not to sulk and looked away only to see their reflection in a mirror opposite them, and a very odd looking ghost sitting between them. He raised an eyebrow at how ridiculous it was when by far the creepiest thing of all started talking at them in a voice that made uncomfortable shivers run down his spine. A small dead woman was above them telling them in spooky English to “hurry back.” He wanted off this damn ride. Thankfully, that was when the safety bar lifted so he was able to jump out and walk towards the exit without looking back.

Akaya laughed as Hiyoshi all but ran out of the ride and trotted after him with a big toothy grin. "That was awesome, right Wakashi?"

Grumbling something unintelligible back at him, Hiyoshi wasn’t comfortable again until he was all the way out of the building and into the welcoming sunshine. The bright pastel colors of Disneyland never looked so good. Right then, as if sensing his newfound appreciation of the décor, the park suddenly decided to push its luck and blast cheesy music. Thick lines of people were in front of them. What now?

Akaya paused when Hiyoshi stopped and looked around in confusion. "Eh? Why'd you--" He turned his head toward the speakers and his face lit up again. "A PARADE!!!" He pulled his boyfriend toward the nearest open spot so they could watch.

“Why do we care about seeing a parade?” Hiyoshi asked as they found a spot to sit on the hot cement.

"Because parades are awesome!" The chibi demon chimed and rocked back and forth on the ground, paying no mind to his burning ass. "I want to be in a parade one day. It would be so much fun!" He paused and thought about it for a moment. "But I don’t think they have tennis parades, do they... Hmm..."

The small children around them were all smiling and waving as the first few floats went by, specifically at the people dressed in funny costumes with too much make-up on. Hiyoshi was distracted for a moment by a couple next to them who kept moving around and standing, getting in the way of some of the kids view of the floats. With a sigh, he caught the kid’s attention and motioned for them to take his spot while he moved to sit behind Akaya.

Akaya waved along with the kids and he looked over to smile at one of them as they looked at him funny,. "Do you see?" he said excitedly and pointed toward the float. "It's Stitch!! He's awesome!!" The kid laughed at him and they looked back to the float. "Buzz Lightyear is totally better," the kid retorted and stuck out his tongue, which Akaya mimicked unhesitatingly.

Hiyoshi smacked his hand to his forehead as his boyfriend bantered with the kids on an even mental level. He leaned forward till his head was nearly on Akaya’s shoulder. “Should I leave you here to have fun with people your own mental age?”

Akaya stuck his tongue out at Hiyoshi then stole a kiss with a devious smirk. "Hey, you're the one that fell in love with me," he said simply and turned his attention back to the parade and to waving at the characters.

The mushroom-headed boy blushed and pulled back hurriedly after the kiss, looking both ways to see if anyone had seen it. “A fact I will forever question my sanity on, but at least I don’t feel the need to physically and publicly proclaim it 24-7.” This was a family park after all.

"No one cares," Akaya mumbled back and laughed. "Besides, as my mom would say, ‘if you've got it; flaunt it’." If anything, he could always claim it was because he was half American. That had gotten him out of a lot as a kid.

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at that. Akaya certainly had an interesting upbringing. He remembered when he’d visited Akaya’s family. They had all been… disturbingly touchy feely, even with him. An interesting idea came to him that might save him a world of trouble for the rest of the day. He only wondered if Akaya would take the bait. “Heh, I bet you couldn’t go the whole rest of day without touching me.” His face showed his usual laid back bored composure, but his eyes definitely held a challenge in them.

Akaya raised an eyebrow and looked at him curiously. "Eh? I totally could, but why would I want to?" He didn't know if he liked that look in his boyfriend’s eyes. He liked challenges, but that... That was just evil...

“How about this. For the rest of the day, you cannot in any way shape or form, touch me or anyone else outside of the necessary,” brown eyes were definitely gleaming now. “If you can do this, then…” It would be a risk, but he doubted Akaya could win. “I’ll let you make up for the lost time tonight… any way you want.”

Akaya’s eyes widened for a moment and he swallowed thickly, trying to weigh the options, but before he could stop himself, he answered, "Deal!" Damn it. He needed to stop doing that. Oh well, he could totally win.

With confident Hyotei smirk in place, Hiyoshi leaned forward and subtly dropped a small kiss on Akaya’s neck, “Good.” This was going to be too easy. He pulled away quickly and heard the music fading, which meant the parade was finally coming to end. “Where do you want to go next?”

His groin informed Akaya quickly that he'd just made a big mistake. "I guess Splash Mountain cause it's close..." he mumbled and got up to start toward the ride, shoving his hands into his pockets so he wouldn't be tempted to touch his boyfriend.

“Alright.” All too gladly, Hiyoshi stood from the hot pavement and followed his boyfriend through the crowd. Was there a little extra bounce to his step now? Of course not. They arrived at the line which was just over a small hill. It was huge. “Is this ride really worth waiting two hours for?” He asked skeptically.

"Yes," Akaya answered flatly and stretched his arms above his head, cracking his shoulders. "It's too hot to stay dry all day," he laughed and shoved his hands back in his pockets and looked at the people screaming as they fell down the large hill. His eyes ran over the line and he grinned, "Misters heh heh..."

Akaya seemed to like the misters a little too much and ignored him in favor of watching the logs with people sitting in them drop down which made a large splash at the bottom. Hence the name “splash mountain” he surmised. Oh well, “At least there doesn’t look to be any more stupid talking objects on this ride…” he mumbled. Who would put dolls on a water ride?

The next two hours were not that bad. In fact, they were fairly enjoyable. It was fun to watch some of the kids in line looking so excited, not caring in the least about the long line. His own big kid was even more fun to watch. At first the brat’s hands had stayed in his pockets, every once in a while during conversation he would forget about the bet and start to remove them, then he would seem to suddenly remember and, with an irritated look, shove them back in again. It really was too cute. He apparently got bored after a while and started fiddling with his phone, playing some kind of game. That was fine too; Hiyoshi liked watching the expressions on his boyfriend’s face change depending on how well he was doing.

There was only so much to keep his attention when they looped in the same area six times. Every time they passed the misters however, Akaya paused the game and just enjoyed the feel of the small droplets of water on his superheated skin.

When they finally got up to the front of the line, Akaya shoved his phone back in his pocket and smiled at Hiyoshi. "You ready? This is going to be awesome!" They sat in front and he was almost bouncing with excitement in his seat, at least until they pushed down the bar and stopped his movement. "I can't believe we got the front!"

Personally, Hiyoshi didn’t care where they sat, now that Akaya wasn’t making a public scene. As long as Akaya was happy, that’s what mattered. Wait… they were in the front. That meant no one would be able to see if he… As the small log boat was released into the water and they drifted away, Hiyoshi turned to Akaya and gave him a small guiltless smile before subtly placing his hand that was next to Akaya’s leg on his upper thigh, slowly caressing it through his pants.

Akaya smiled back at his boyfriend until the hand touched his thigh. His eyes shot open and a look of mild panic ran over his face. "W-w-w-what are you doing!?" He hissed quietly and tried to wriggle away from his boyfriend. "You cheater!"

“What are you talking about?” Hiyoshi replied smoothly, but didn’t remove his hand. If anything, Akaya’s squirming only made his caresses harder and closer to the inside of his thigh to keep him in place. “I only remember mentioning rules pertaining to you. I never said anything about me.”

"Bastard...." Akaya mumbled and gripped hard at the bar to keep from touching back. "That's just playing dirty," he whined and tried very hard to focus on the somewhat cartoony mountain they were entering. Maybe he could sing the song to distract himself.

He should’ve known there would be more cheesy music, but Hiyoshi used the noise as an excuse to lean closer to Akaya to tell him wickedly. “Hey, you're the one that fell in love with me.” Using Akaya’s own previously used words against him. “You never asked me what I get if I win, either.” He pulled back, but left his hand in place as they entered the dark mountain.

Akaya swallowed hard. "So uh... What do you get if you win?" ‘Which you won't,’ he added in his head quickly. He refused to lose, even though molesting his boyfriend on the ride sounded more and more tempting the longer that hand stayed on his leg.

Why were there fucking dolls on a water ride? Apparently Disney didn’t know how to build a ride without involving creepy singing objects. Only this time, instead of human dolls, there were singing animals. Hiyoshi thought he might have seen a singing mushroom, but he hoped that was just his masochistic imagination. Damn it… He would just have to distract himself with something else and not let it get to him.

Akaya figured he wasn’t going to get an answer until they were off the ride, judging by the creeped out look on his boyfriend’s face, so he started singing along with the ride. Before long, they were going down one of the short drops and into the laughing place. He couldn't sing there, since the song was in English, but he still hummed along.

After the drop, there was even more incessant annoying music. The usually composed Hiyoshi tried to block out the disturbing going on around him by focusing his attention on Akaya. The space they were in was already small and Akaya had leaned slightly forward, probably either wanting to get closer to the creepy, or relieve some of the pressure his hand had created. Yes, touching Akaya was a very nice distraction from hell.

Akaya’s eyes went wide and he shivered at the combination of the teasing touch and the cold air conditioning on his skin. At least they were almost to the big drop. That would distract Hiyoshi from torturing him, at least for a while...

As the atmosphere of the music changed and the log took them up a steep hill, Hiyoshi withdrew his hand from Akaya, figuring this was the large outside drop he’d seen earlier. Just glad they were getting out of singing animal hell, he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the drop, waiting for it to get done and over with. He would continue tormenting his boyfriend later.

Akaya let out a sigh of relief as the hand moved away from his leg and threw his arms up in the air with a happy scream as he saw over all of Westernland for a second, then all he could see was a flash and the scenery racing by them as they plunged into the briar patch.

Ouch. It hadn’t been that much of a fall, so why did everyone including Akaya have to torture his eardrums? And what was that bright flash that went off? After the plummet into fake shrubbery, the ride was quickly over. It hadn’t been that bad. Being able to get a little sexual teasing revenge on his boyfriend had made it worth it; he more than deserved it after all.

They went through one more area of singing and dancing animals, with whom Akaya sang along again, before they reached the dock and were told to unload. He climbed out and hurried toward the picture room, almost grabbing his boyfriend’s hand to drag him along, but he resisted. Yes, he wasn't out of the game yet.

When Akaya dashed off ahead of him without a word or dragging him along with him as usual, Hiyoshi’s heart did a painful little flip. Akaya never left him behind like that… Maybe he was angry at him for teasing him? No… he was being stupid. He was the one who had made the dare; he was the one who didn’t want public contact. Damn it, this wasn’t going to backfire on him! He quickened his pace to catch up to him, determined to push the self-inflicted troubling feelings aside.

Akaya stopped once he was in front of their picture and a smile stretched across his face. "Wakashi, look! I like your expression," he laughed and grinned up at the digital projection of them. He was screaming and smiling with his hands in the air along with the rest of the people on the log, except the girl in the back who was cowering against her boyfriend’s side. But Hiyoshi was doing anything but.

Catching up to Akaya, Hiyoshi looked over to where Akaya was pointing. So that was what the flash had been. He smirked at the stereotypical expression on both their faces; Akaya’s happy child-like expression and his irritable glare. The two contrasted each other so much he doubted anyone looking at this picture would ever assume they were together, let alone in a relationship.

Glancing at Hiyoshi’s smirk, Akaya smiled again and started to trot off. "I'm going to go buy it," he explained before disappearing around the corner. It was going to get framed and hung near his desk. He already knew the perfect spot.

That surprised him. Why would Akaya want to buy it? There were other people in the picture they didn’t even know and it wasn’t like they didn’t make those same expressions every day. He watched as the other pictures flashed by while he waited for Akaya to get back. They were all different variations of the same thing; people smiling, posing, contorting their faces into odd shapes. All of them looked happy, even the ones with fear in their eyes… Everyone, except him. He couldn’t help but wonder again why someone like Akaya remained with someone like him.

Akaya came back a few minutes later holding a Disney bag, wearing a big grin and a pair of Mickey ears. "Come on Wakashi, we need to go to the next ride!"

The sight of Akaya in a pair of Mickey ears efficiently broke him out of his depressing thoughts. “Where the hell did these come from?” He asked with a snort and flicked one of the ears, “you look ridiculous.”

The brat laughed and reached up to touch them. "Aren't they cool!? They were selling them down by the picture place..."

‘Cool’ was not the word Hiyoshi would have used to describe them. “I think I’ll be embarrassed to be seen in public with you now.” If it wasn’t for Akaya’s sex drive, there would be no way Hiyoshi could believe his boyfriend was really a man in his twenties.

"You don't think they're cute?" the bratty demon asked curiously and reached up to touch the ears again, a little frown on his lips.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. Sadly, the problem was that he did think they were cute, at least on Akaya. “They’re tolerable,” he acquiesced with a roll of his eyes. “Now decide what we’re doing next, we only have time for a few more things before we have to catch the train home.”

"Aww… Alright, come on. I know one we can go on!" He started off toward Adventureland with a big smile. He hated that they had to leave soon, but with the length of the lines, he knew there was no helping it. He didn't want to catch the last train after all.

The line for the Jungle Cruise wasn't terribly long, and soon they were seated on the little ship with their skipper and about 15 other people. The skipper’s voice alone made Akaya laugh nearly the whole trip. He didn't think men could hit that pitch unless they'd just been kicked in the balls, but apparently this guy could. It was great. His boyfriend seemed to scowl almost the whole ride, but at a couple of the jokes he noticed a ghost of a smile on the other’s lips.

When they walked off the ride, Akaya pulled out his pass and checked the time. "Awesome! We can go to Space Mountain now!"

Before heading to Space Mountain, they ended up stopping at the ‘Pizza Port’ restaurant right next door. Akaya, as expected, filled up his plate. Hiyoshi only ended up eating one slice of pizza and had another tea. Akaya gave him a disappointed look for it, but Hiyoshi didn’t care. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t hungry. Besides, Akaya ate enough for the both of them. When they were done, they quickly threw out their trash and made their way to space mountain.

The line for Space Mountain was rather long, but Akaya pulled the tickets out of his pocket he’d gotten at the beginning of the day. Apparently they were called ‘fast passes’ and got them into a special line that wasn’t so long. Hiyoshi would have preferred going on Star Tours again, but was too embarrassed to tell him so.

The ride, and even the line, turned out to be very interesting. It had a very Star Wars feel to it that Hiyoshi appreciated. The ride itself was an inside rollercoaster where the rider seemed to be flying through space surrounded by stars. The rollercoaster hadn’t been terribly fast, but it’d been a long time since Hiyoshi had been on one. His hands gripped the safety bar in front of him in a death grip while Akaya screamed bloody murder and flung his hands in the air. Throughout the ride he’d managed keep from copying Akaya’s actions, but he couldn’t hide the grin that remained on his face all the way till the end.

“Ready to go home?” Hiyoshi asked as they exited the ride. It was getting late and he wanted to get home before the big rush. By far, the best part of the park today had been the lines. Watching Akaya get excited and wearing those funny Mickey ears, watching all the families together and the kids looking like they were having the time of their life. Going to amusement parks was still definitely not his thing, but he figured he could even come again if Akaya was with him.

"Yeah," Akaya smiled and stretched his arms above his head as they walked back toward the train station, past the giant suit cased shape store. He let out a yawn and every cell in him wanted to lean on Hiyoshi’s side and go to sleep, but he still wasn't allowed to touch his boyfriend. Damn his stupid competitive side.

They made it out of the park and took the monorail, which was thankfully not too crowded, to their main station going home. When they made it up the platform Hiyoshi cursed. Apparently they had made it just in time for the rush hour right before the final trains. It was packed. Hiyoshi hated crowded trains… but he didn’t want to just stand on the platform and wait for another that would possibly be even more packed. They pushed their way onto the train and ended up being shoved into a corner by the door. At least it was far enough out of the way that they wouldn’t have to get off to let people on and off every time the train stopped.

Yeah, being shoved in the corner next to all the sweaty people sucked, but there had always been something Akaya loved about crowded trains. He loved watching the people on them. The kids decked out in princess and Mickey Mouse gear, the parents looking exhausted but happy that their kids had a good day, and even just the random business man sleeping, wishing he had time to go to Disneyland. He didn't even have to hold on to anything. He couldn't fall in the train if he wanted to, so he just swayed with the crowd and smiled at his boyfriend.

At least it wouldn’t take them that long to get home, Hiyoshi tried to tell himself. Then he and Akaya could relax and… wait. There was something he was forgetting. After Splash Mountain they had been running around trying to get the most out of the time they had left. He completely forgot about the bet! At this rate, Akaya was going to win without any trouble at all! The competitive martial artist and ex-tennis player couldn’t accept that. But what could he do? They were on a crowded train and Akaya was now leaning against a corner between the door and some seats, looking like he was about to nod off. Well, maybe he could use that to his advantage.

Since Akaya was already in the corner with Hiyoshi right next to him, it wasn’t that hard for him to squeeze in a little bit closer, almost completely covering Akaya’s form. “You can lean against me and fall asleep if you want…” he said as innocently as possible.

Akaya gave him a suspicious look. "I can't touch you until we get home, remember?" He wasn't the brightest tool in the shed, but he wasn't an idiot either. "I'm not gonna lose the bet."

Damn it. His boyfriend only had a good memory when he wanted to. The train stopped again and even more people were jamming into the already packed train. The pressure made Hiyoshi stumble forward till he was pushed right up against Akaya and their faces were only inches apart. This gave him another idea, but also made him ask himself a very important question. What was more important? Possibly being embarrassed as all hell, or winning the bet? He was sometimes too competitive for his own good. Already shoved up against Akaya, Hiyoshi purposely began to rub his body against Akaya’s with the sway of the train. “Are you sure about that?” With their faces so close together, every word spoken made his breath land hotly against Akaya’s lips and chin.

Well, Akaya used to like crowded trains. "Oh, you're just evil..." he grumbled and let his head hit back against the plastic wall of the train, "Pure evil..." He closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. Self control. Yanagi-senpai always told him he had it, he just needed to use it. He really hoped his senpai was right. He took a deep breath. "I'm not going to lose the bet, Wakashi, but if you want me that bad I'd be glad to screw you against the door, the bed, and or the desk when we get home." He made sure to speak just loud enough that the few people pressed against Hiyoshi looked at them with wide eyes.

Akaya had just signed his death warrant. He had planned on being nice about this, but since Akaya had already opened his damn mouth, there was very little Hiyoshi could do to make it worse. Though hell, maybe anyone who heard would just think he was joking since it was such a blatant public statement. “I learned from the best,” he said quietly against his neck, placing the tiniest of kisses there when the train suddenly jolted. It had been hours since his lips had last touched his boyfriend “Any of the above sounds fine,” he added, almost as loudly as Akaya had voiced earlier, “but only if you escape me pounding you against the hard floor first.”

Akaya’s breath caught and he looked up at the ceiling as if asking the gods why the hell this was happening to him. "I like the sound of that too..." They were almost to their stop where they'd have to transfer trains. He just needed to hold on a bit longer.

The look on Akaya’s face was mesmerizing and Hiyoshi thought if he could just push a little harder, he might be able to break him. But that was of course right when the doors opened, announcing their stop. With an irritated groan, he pushed himself away from Akaya and got off the train.

Yes!! He was safe! Hopefully the next train wouldn't be as crowded. It was hell trying to walk, and he had to reach down to adjust the groin of his pants a couple times, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, even though he did blush as a couple girls giggled at him.

From the platform, they only had to go up the escalator and then down another one to get to the next train. Hiyoshi didn’t look back as he made his way towards the other platform, knowing Akaya would follow him. Their train was scheduled to leave in two minutes and there was plenty of seating still available. He couldn’t help it. He plopped down on one of the open seats, crossed his arms, and sulked.

Akaya followed after him and flopped down in the empty seat next to him, his pants still uncomfortably tight, but at least it wasn’t painfully obvious to anyone who looked at his groin anymore.

Hiyoshi opened his mouth to say something, then changed his mind and closed it. His hand reached out as if to touch Akaya, but quickly retracted it back. A thoughtful expression came to his face and he opened his mouth again, but then quickly closed it again. He hated it when he did this. Sinking down lower in his seat, he continued to brood. He had already told Akaya he could do whatever he wanted with him if he won; he wasn’t going to go back on his word. Not even to beg him to not use sex toys in whatever he was planning.

Akaya stared at his boyfriend like he was crazy most of the train trip. He'd seen Hiyoshi pout before, not that the other would ever admit that he pouted in the first place, but he'd never seen him gape like a fish like that before. He glanced up at the little map above the door and sighed, just a few more stops and another train transfer...

Hiyoshi took Akaya’s arm once during the final transfer when he started walking in the wrong direction, but other than that, left him alone. The next train wasn’t nearly as crowded as the first one, but they still had to stand. He’d stopped sulking, but now his he features showed only a blank expression. At one point when the train made a sharp turn, he stumbled into Akaya and gave him a small smile before going back to looking at nothing.

"Wakashi..." Akaya said quietly as they got off the last train at the stop for the University. "What's wrong?" He asked curiously and started toward their room.

Hiyoshi gave him a confused look. “Nothing’s wrong. We’re almost home. Seems like you won.”

Akaya’s face lit up and he grinned from ear to ear. "Awesome! That means we're going to have fun tonight!" He walked backwards, watching Hiyoshi as they went.

Hiyoshi smirked, trying not to look nervous. “What exactly did you have in mind?”

"You'll see~" Akaya teased in a sing-song voice and turned back around to walk into the dorm.

The mushroom-head’s worries went up a notch. After all, once they got home, he could be forced into multiple things that could put him in potentially uncomfortable situations. He swallowed nervously but didn’t say anything and walked silently the rest of the way into the room. A bet was a bet, and there was no way in hell he would back out.

As soon as Akaya stepped foot in his room, he let out a relieved sigh and kicked off his shoes. Turning, he looked at Hiyoshi, and as soon as the door was closed, he kissed his boyfriend slowly and sensually like he'd been aching to do since they'd made the stupid bet.

Hiyoshi was in the middle of taking his shoes off when Akaya’s lips were suddenly attached to his. Immediately he surrendered to the kiss and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, bringing him closer. “There’s one thing I want to tell you before you claim your prize,” he said short of breath, completely under Akaya’s command at this point.

"And what is that?" Akaya murmured quietly and ran his fingers along his boyfriend’s sides.

Hiyoshi kissed his forehead. “Happy six month anniversary.”

Akaya blinked a couple times, then smiled and squeezed Hiyoshi tight. "Happy anniversary, Wakashi," he said happily, then picked up his boyfriend to carry him over to the bed.

Hiyoshi hated being carried around, but today he made an exception, surrendering his weight to his boyfriend’s arms. Stroking Akaya’s cheek tenderly he asked, “So what do you want for your prize?” Looking at Akaya now, he felt he really could do anything Akaya asked of him.

Setting his boyfriend carefully down on the bed, Akaya walked over to the TV and unraveled two controllers before turning on the playstation 2 and TV and handing one controller to his boyfriend. "We're going to play a game!"

“A GAME?!” Throwing his head back, laughter erupted. He’d been so worried about all the different things Akaya might ask of him, and all he wanted to do was play a video game together? Once he got his laughter under control, he looked at the controller in his hands before looking back at Akaya with a sincere adoring look. “I love you. What game do you want to play?”


	36. Chapter 36

It had just been a normal day at the game center for Akaya. It’d been spent playing way more fighting games then was probably healthy and kicking ass at them, but as it started getting dark, he decided to call it a day and head home before his boyfriend got worried and/or mad at him. He stepped onto the escalator; his hands shoved into his shorts pockets. He was almost to the ground floor when he saw it.

In one of the claw machines surrounded by cute fluffy animals was a light brown stuffed bear that had the most disgruntled look on his face. It seemed to glare at him as he stepped off the moving stairs and he found himself inexplicably drawn to it. He didn't know how long he stood there in front of the machine, but it was long enough for people to start staring and a worker to come up and ask him if he was alright. After another few moments, he pulled out his nearly empty coin purse and popped a 100 yen coin into the machine and took the crane controls. He had to have that bear.

Another hour and 1100 yen later, he walked out of the game center grinning like a fool and holding the grumpy bear to his chest, quite pleased with himself. After a short train ride, he made his way back to his room, excited to show Hiyoshi his amazing find.

Hiyoshi looked up from his book again to check the time on his alarm clock. It was getting late and he was just about to call his boyfriend too see where he had gone off to when the front door opened and in he walked… with a wildly happy grin bordering on disturbing. He wondered idly if he should be concerned, but the thought was immediately dismissed since this was a somewhat normal occurrence that he was used to ignoring. What concerned him more was that he was holding protectively, and dare he say lovingly, a rather large teddy bear. He wasn’t usually the curious type, but he looked bewilderedly at the teddy bear then lifted his gaze to raise a questioning eyebrow at Akaya.

"Isn't it awesome?!" Akaya said excitedly when he saw the question on his bewildered boyfriend’s face. "I won it at the game center!" He ran over and straddled his boyfriend, still holding the bear and looking quite pleased with himself. "Do you like it?"

Bookmarking his page, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get any more reading done, Hiyoshi put his book on the nightstand next to the bed and gave Akaya and the bear his full attention. Now that he looked at it closely, the bear looked rather… annoyed. An emotion he had much empathy for, but was not used to seeing on a stuffed animal. “It’s a bear.”

"Duh, of course it's a bear," Akaya rolled his eyes and wiggled closer to his boyfriend, "But it's not just any bear," Akaya said chidingly and frowned at Hiyoshi over the bear’s head as he rested his chin on the furry fabric. "This is a special bear and the best bear ever."

Hiyoshi’s nose wrinkled in slight confusion and he looked at the bear again. It didn’t look like anything special. Was it made of some kind of special soft fabric? Was it some random character in one of Akaya’s video games? He wouldn’t put it past Akaya to own a video game about disgruntled killer bears. Giving up on his mental guessing game, he finally asked with an annoyed expression somewhat similar to the bear’s, “and why is that?”

Akaya grinned as that familiar grumpy expression spread over the other man’s face. "Because it reminds me of you," he said simply in a chipper voice as he squeezed the bear a bit tighter. "See?" He held it closer to Hiyoshi’s face. "Heh heh, you guys have got the same expression!"

First off, Akaya just now basically accused him of being perpetually grumpy. Second, it was very insulting to be compared to a fluffy stuffed brown object and Hiyoshi had every intention of informing his boyfriend of this. “Akaya… I have absolutely nothing in common with a furry stuffed bear and I sincerely hope you’re not implying I look like a brat’s cuddle toy.”

Akaya’s smile stayed in place, but his eye twitched. Within seconds, he'd smacked the other boy over the head with the bear. Quickly holding it close again, he kept smiling at his boyfriend though this time it looked a little forced. "So what if I am? Besides, you totally look like him. His fur’s even the same color as your hair."

Okay… the highly trained martial artist and inheritor to a prominent kobujutsu dojo had NOT just been attacked by such a lowly object as a stuffed animal, and then to be compared to it yet AGAIN. He retaliated in the only reasonable way he could. He grabbed the offending object and smacked Akaya back with it.

Akaya glared at him and stole the bear back, holding it protectively. "Don't touch my Waka-kumo!" He said grumpily and pouted at his boyfriend. "If you're going to be mean to him, you're not allowed to touch him."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and felt the need to smack him again, this time without the bear, but instead just smacked his own forehead in exasperation. “You just did the same thing, idiot! And don’t name it ridiculous names after me!”

"It's not ridiculous!" the pouty demon argued, and his pout got worse as he held the bear tight and crawled off his boyfriend to sit next to him a safe distance away so he couldn't snatch away his new friend. "If you don't want him just say so and I'll take care of him!" he snapped and rested his head on the pleasantly squishy bear’s head.

“Why would I want a…. huh?” Akaya had won the bear for him? His mind froze on that for a second, mixed thoughts debating in his rather worn-out brain. Akaya had gone out of his way to get the bear for him? And as childish and emasculating as it was, had named it after him out of affection, not to make fun of him? He remembered back in elementary and middle school, girls made bears for there crushes and named them after them as some kind of childish way of showing they liked them. His cheeks reddened as he tried to finish his sentence without stuttering nonsense… which he completely failed at.

Akaya snuggled the bear close and hid his face in the soft fur. "Well? You want him or not?" he mumbled, hoping the other would take his present. Hiyoshi probably didn't like it, like he said, and that made him a bit depressed. It had taken him a long time to get the bear and he was so proud of himself since he usually kind of sucked at crane games (not that he would admit to it), but he figured he couldn't expect or blame Hiyoshi for not liking the somewhat girly present.

Words obviously failing him, Hiyoshi peeked at Akaya out of the corner of his eye with his face still flushing. The brat looked so cute hiding behind the stupid bear, pout firmly in place and eyes with that glassy ‘I’m going to be sad if you don’t like my present’ look. Giving up, and not looking directly at him, he held out his hand to receive his gift.

Akaya blinked and looked at the out stretched hand in surprise, then slowly the smile returned to his face and he placed Waka-kumo gently in the waiting hand.

Hiyoshi took the bear and brought it back into his line of vision, trying not to glare at it as he scrutinized it yet again. It really wasn’t that bad, he re-surmised. The fur was nice to touch, the facial features weren’t all wide eyed with some dumb brainless smile, and he supposed if he had to have a stuffed animal named after him, this one wasn’t so bad. Slowly his expression softened till a small lopsided grin replaced his previously present frown.


	37. Chapter 37

“Oh, by the way, An might be staying with us tonight.”

Hiyoshi immediately raised an eyebrow in question at Akaya’s random statement. “...Why?”

“She got lonely and I said she could stay whenever she wants.”

“Uhh...” The mushroom-headed boy sighed at his boyfriend’s careless response and tried to figure out if there was any way to refuse without sounding like a jerk. Nothing came to mind. “Fine. I'll sleep on the floor.”

Akaya blinked a few times as if confused and looked at around at the bed they were both laying on. “She can sleep in the bed with us.” then added with a shrug as if it didn’t matter. “She’s small.”

That was just wrong. It did matter, at least to Hiyoshi, and just the thought made him feel awkward. How was he supposed to tell his boyfriend of over six months, of whom he loved and trusted, that he didn’t feel comfortable having a girl in their bed? Shouldn’t those things be obvious?

Then there were lips on his, kissing him sweetly. “Relax. It'll be fine.”

The kiss was distracting, and the usual feelings of contentment that accompanied Akaya’s kisses washed over him. “Isn't that called a threesome?” The question was out before he thought of the ramifications of asking such a question. ‘Great, now I get to feel like an idiot.’

“No, but if you want the real definition of a threesome I'd be happy to share.” The little demon was flashing him that little happy slutty devil smile. “This is called us helping our friend who's lonely because her boyfriend is in France for a month.”

“...Oh.” He was still trying to recover from that smile, but managed to respond. “She's sleeping on your side.”

“Okay!”

Akaya could be so infuriating at times, but now Hiyoshi was curious. Even though he knew he’d regret it later, he asked anyway. “So… What exactly is a threesome then?”

The devil smirk returned. “I have a video if you're that curious.”

There was a video about it? Or maybe the phrase was taken from a movie? “A video? A ‘threesome’ refers to a movie?”

Akaya’s face landed in his palm, making him feel like an even bigger idiot. Hiyoshi thought perhaps he should just go back to what he was doing before Akaya interrupted, reading his book.

“Wakashi, I love you. A threesome is a sexual activity between three people.”

All thoughts of returning to his book evaporated and his eyes narrowed irritably. “NO.”

Akaya just laughed. He did that a lot. Hiyoshi was starting to think he might be developing a complex for being laughed at. Never mind, who was he kidding? He already had one.

“Relax. I wasn’t suggesting it. They’re a lot harder than they sound.” The words were said so casually, as if he was talking baking cookies, but Hiyoshi’s brain was suddenly working overtime in a direction it really didn’t want to go.

“Why would that be... STOP. Never mind... huh? You've been... Wait! Don't answer that either. I don't want to know...” Shit. Just the thought of Akaya… he didn’t want to think about it. He got up to his feet and walked over to his bookshelf, gazing at his books as if they would make those thoughts miraculously go away.

While in the process of trying to distract himself, Akaya walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around the sexually-naive boy’s waist, kissing the back of his neck. “Hey, why are you sulking? Are you jealous? We can try it if you're really that interested.”

Hiyoshi couldn’t decide whether to push the brat away or pull him closer. In the end, he ended up just staying put. “I'm not sulking. What the hell do I have to be jealous of, brat? Is there someone else you want to sleep with in our bed?” ‘Or in their bed?’ He added mentally with a sneer.

“There is no one else I want to sleep with, Wakashi. You know that.” There was only truth in Akaya’s tone.

“Then why did you...?” Sighing, he turned in his boyfriend’s arms, facing him, and raised an eyebrow. “But you would still be willing?”

“I would do anything you wanted me to...” The bratty demon consoled while pulling him in closer, right up against him.

Hiyoshi had a really bad habit he needed to break. It happened every time Akaya said something cheesy like that. His heart beat faster and his heart started to talk instead of his head. “I want you to n..!” He managed to stop myself.

“Wait.” The self-conscious marital artist paused. He looked to the ceiling, the side wall, and the floor, as if they inexplicably held all the answers. “Never mind.”

“Want me to what?” Akaya asked curiously, hands running up the mushroom headed boy’s back in a possessive hold, not letting him escape. “Tell me.”

This was why he should always think before speaking. Maybe he could try ignoring him. It couldn’t hurt to try. “Nothing.” Shrugging out of the arms, he walked back towards the bed, away from all the pressure of that embrace.

“Alright... If you don't wanna tell me... I understand...”

Akaya got back on the bed and sat down with a huff, obviously pouting, and that was a lot harder to ignore. Maybe he could still save the situation. “What? There's nothing to tell.”

“You were going to say something then you stopped.” The idiot was full out moping now. Hiyoshi hated it when his boyfriend did that. It made him feel guilty.

“Uhh… I want you to... uhh... figure out what you want for dinner. Yes.” Hiyoshi added a little nod at the end to be more convincing.

“You suck at lying...”

Well, shit. “Che...but it would be nice to know what we're having for dinner.” He petted messy ringlet curls, hoping to take some of the gloom out of those accusing green eyes.

“Why won’t you tell me? Is it that bad?”

It was time for plan B. If ignoring didn’t work, play clueless. “Errr... Why won’t I tell you what?” All he got for that attempt was a glare.

“What do you want me to do...?” Akaya asked.

“What do you want me to do?”

“I asked you first.”

“…And I asked you second. Deal.”

Akaya rolled over on the bed to face the wall.

“C'mon brat, stop acting like a br... Is it really that important?” Hiyoshi rolled my eyes.

“It is now, yes.”

“Why?”

“Because you won’t tell me, and you know I hate it when you don’t tell me stuff.” Akaya really was acting like an immature brat.

“I already told you! There's nothing to tell!” Hiyoshi was getting frustrated, and it was showing. “I'm sure there are a lot of things you want that I don't know about. Things you wouldn’t feel right asking for.”

“No, I pretty much ask you for anything I want.” His boyfriend answered in that completely honest and innocent tone of his.

Well, shit. Hiyoshi didn’t know if that meant he was a bad boyfriend or if Akaya was just an idiot who had no filter between his brain and mouth, probably both. Either way, he had no idea how to respond to that.

“Can I have a puppy?”

“Not allowed in the dorms.”

“...So?”

“So, no.”

“But Echizen has a cat.”

“Which is a terror to the rest of the school. I already have one terror to take care of and that is quite enough for now, thank you.” Maybe Akaya really didn’t hide anything he wanted from him. He wasn’t sure if that made him happy or nervous.

“Fine...” And up came that pout again. It really was a cute pout. Hiyoshi leaned over to kiss it since kissing a pouting Akaya was almost as nice as kissing a smiling one.

The pouting boy kissed me back, but it obviously wasn’t enough to distract. “Please tell me what you were going to say?”

“Ugh...” Sitting up on the bed, Hiyoshi started to massage his temples to fend off the oncoming headache. “I don't even know. I stopped before I completed the thought. There were a lot of things I could have said.”

“Well then just tell me something you want.”

“Err...” ‘What do I want?’ There was a long list in his head blaring at him in bold letters, but half of them made me wince with their cliché happy family and the dojo cheesy-ness. He instead decided go with the obvious. “I want you to... not have any more threesomes.”

The look Akaya gave clearly indicated he wasn’t impressed. “Wakashi, come on.”

“What?” He crossed his arms and looked at him seriously. “I’m being honest! I don't care if both of us are there. I'm not at all interested in a third party.” Just the idea made him shudder unpleasantly. “Besides...” He brought a hand up to trace Akaya's cheek bone. “I think I'd be too distracted by you to pay them any attention.”

The smile Akaya gave him practically made Hiyoshi’s heart stop, and then the kiss his hand received ensured he wouldn’t be able to breath for at least another second or two. He returned the smile. “Not to mention we've already discussed that if I ever saw you... in close proximity with some else like that...” His eyes turned deadly serious. “I don't think I have to remind you that I have various deadly weapons that I am highly skilled in using.”

“N-no--I remember...” Both Akaya’s voice and body trembled before him. Good.

The deadly martial artist’s smile widened and he leaned over to kiss his forehead. “And I would hope you wouldn't be completely okay with someone coming onto me like that...”

“No. I'd probably go demon mode and kill them.” The demon brat mumbled off-handedly.

“Then we shouldn't have a problem.” Hiyoshi kissed his nose and pulled him back against him with a satisfied grin. “So what do you want for dinner?”


	38. Chapter 38

Journal: Kirihara

Six months is a long time...

It's been more fun than I could possibly imagine though.

I never thought that being in a relationship could be like this... Just a few weeks ago was Wakashi and I’s six month anniversary. We went to Disneyland and had a lot of fun. He always does stuff like that for me even though he doesn't like those places. Heh heh, I wish everyone could have seen his expression on ‘It's a Small World.’ It’s an awesome experience going to the Disneyland in Tokyo because I can actually understand what everything says!!!

I never know how to pay him back for stuff like that though... I mean... He always takes me places and always pays for things... but all I can do is just... be there. I don’t know. It's like he doesn’t trust me with a lot either... It's just a feeling I get from him and it kinda scares me...

But it's normal to be scared a bit in a relationship, right? I mean... to worry about where it's going and stuff. I don't know… Maybe I'm just being stupid or something, but I have this weird feeling in my gut that something I don't like is going to happen soon...

CHAPTER 38

Hiyoshi had been on the phone with his father for the last half hour. This had to be a new record for them, but the conversation was not anywhere near a happy one. In fact, Hiyoshi was very, very close to yelling or just straight out slamming the phone down.

“She’s already here?!” He exclaimed into the phone, not even trying to hide his anger at the situation. “Why wasn’t I informed earlier?” A few more heated words were exchanged before the phone call finally came to an end. He hurriedly picked up his keys and wallet, and then made his way to the door. Akaya would be home any minute; hopefully he’d make it out before his mop-headed boyfriend got there. Then he could take care of the situation so Akaya would never even have to know.

Akaya yawned and stretched, having just got out of English and consequently having just woken up from a nap. ‘Now to get some real rest before practice.’ He was about to set his hand on the door knob when the door opened on its own. He blinked and looked up to see Hiyoshi looking for lack of a better word, enraged. "O-oi, you alright?"

Shit. Hiyoshi quickly tried to cover up his anxiety and stepped out of the way so Akaya could slip by him into the room. “I’m fine. Just have a few errands I have to run. I’ll be back later. Don’t wait for me.” He knew if he went into more detail, Akaya would know he was hiding something. Better to keep it simple and leave. He quickly leaned down to peck his boyfriend on the lips, trying to seem normal, and left down the hall.

Akaya blinked and looked rather confused as Hiyoshi kissed him out in the hallway. That was new. He watched him hurry off and shrugged. Going inside, he closed the door and toed off his shoes, only to trudge over to the bed and collapse. Damn, English was hard work.

\---

Saitou Natsumi was not the type of girl to be kept waiting. When Wakashi wasn’t there to pick her up on time at the airport, she cursed loudly in a decidedly unfeminine tone. Many stopped to stare at the tomboyish girl with cropped black hair. Though not a stunning beauty, her eyes had a serious yet mirthful look that made it always seem she had some secret she would never disclose. Despite being taller than the average Japanese female, she was well proportioned, and being a very devoted follower of kobujustu martial arts, her body was toned and pleasing to look at.

She had lived in Singapore for many years, but her family was originally from Japan. It was easy to find a taxi which would bring her to campus where she expected Wakashi to have a good excuse for not being on time to pick her up. She didn’t have a cell phone that worked in Japan, so calling him was out of the question.

Once she arrived on campus, the tired and irritable girl asked around for a while to find the dorms. She spoke with the housing office, and once she explained who she was and gave ID, they were very useful by directing her to Wakashi’s room. Arms crossed with a glare, she knocked on Wakashi’s front door.

Hearing the knock on the door, Akaya opened his eyes groggily and growled. Who the hell was at their door in the middle of the night----he checked the clock---afternoon?! He trudged over and opened the door, only to see a girl standing there. "Um... Who the hell are you?" he mumbled, not bothering with pleasantries. He did not like being woken up in the middle of a nap unless it was by Wakashi with a kiss, or something better. The girl was tall, almost his height, and that weirded him out a bit. Was she some kind of giant or something?

“Sorry, I might have the wrong room. Does Wakashi live here?” The jet-lagged look changed to a friendly smile, not at all put off by the boy’s grumpy demeanor.

Akaya blinked, waking up a bit more. "Wakashi..." he repeated. He was fairly certain he was the only one who called Hiyoshi that, but he'd heard right, she'd said Wakashi. "If you mean Hiyoshi Wakashi, yeah... He lives here... He's not here right now. He ran off all grouchy about something, but he should be back soon I think." At least he still had some of his manners. They were just buried under a layer of tired indifference.

Natsumi sighed in relief, tired from the long flight and having to lug around three suitcases. “Oh good, I was worried the bastard would make me wait until he found me, which I know would take forever. I hope I’m not being too forward in asking, but do you mind if I come in and wait for him? You must be Kirihara-san, right?” She was amused. If this was the boy Wakashi had told her about, then she was very curious to meet him.

'The bastard,' huh? Maybe he and this girl could get along. Akaya stepped out of the way. "Oh yeah, come on in. You look tired." He helped take a couple of her bags and dragged them in. "And yeah, I'm Kirihara Akaya. You are...?"

Saying a quick “thank you” as the boy helped her with her bags; once Natsumi was situated inside, she gave him a confused look. “Ugh… Sorry. Wakashi didn’t tell you I was coming? That idiot.” She shook her head and introduced herself casually. “My name is Saitou Natsumi. I’m his fiancé from Singapore. Nice to meet you, Kirihara-san. You’re his boyfriend, correct?”

Akaya’s jaw dropped and he stared at the girl in complete and utter shock. How did she know they were in a relationship? And wait, did she just say… "You're WHAT?!" he explained, probably a bit louder than necessary.

Natsumi’s eyes grew wide at the surprise in his voice and then she fully understood the reality of the situation. “Don’t tell me he didn’t tell you that either? Shit… Uhh… this is awkward…” She sat down on a nearby chair and her right leg started moving up and down in a nervous habit. “Look, um… Yeah, I’m his fiancé. Our family arranged it since he stayed with us in Singapore a while back, but don’t worry.” She waved her hands in front of her face as if to ward off an evil spirit, “He’s just a good childhood friend and I have no intention of getting between you two.”

Flopping down on the side of the bed with a blank look on his face, Akaya decided that he and Wakashi were going to have a good loooooong talk when he got back. He looked over to Natsumi and forced a smile. "Oh, well uh... Thanks for telling me Saitou-chan." He sighed and ran a hand through his wild hair. "Sorry for yelling... He just uh--he didn't tell me anything about this..." Now he understood the bad feeling in his gut. He really wished he didn't though.

The equally confused girl wasn’t sure what to say. She was soooooo going to kill Wakashi when he got there. “So, uh… it’s almost impossible to get any information out of him about you. How long have you been together for?” It still surprised her that Wakashi had ended up with a guy. He had seemed straight enough when they were kids... she knew that better than anyone, and this boy with crazy curly hair didn’t seem at all the type she had pictured her Shi-chan would end up with.

Akaya thought about it for a moment. "Just over six months," he answered honestly. "Why were you trying to find out about me?" he eyed her curiously. Why would she want to know about him? Was she just trying to figure out her competition? He knew girls, girls were sneaky.

“Wow! That’s longer than I’d guessed. Of course I want to know about who Wakashi is dating. This is excellent blackmail and teasing material!” She wiggled her eyebrows at him jokingly, showing that she was only kidding. “Not to mention, I’m just curious. I would never have guessed he’d end up with a guy.”

"Yeah... You and me both." The bratty demon laughed a little and laid back on the bed to look up at the ceiling. "It started as a game. I was just trying to get him to loosen up and get that stick out of his ass, but then... I don't know what happened, but I fell in love with him…" he explained, his expression softening along with his tone. "You seem like a pretty nice girl Saitou-chan," he smiled and looked at her, slowly forcing himself to sit up again. Maybe she wasn't so bad. He shouldn't blame her for Wakashi’s error.

That was so sweet. She could feel the gooeyness everywhere. “I know he must feel similar feelings if he’s been with you for that long,” she answered confidently with a smile. “And it looks like he’s even living with you.” Look at what must be Wakashi’s desk, she could tell by the tidiness versus the other desk with dust gathering on it, and found the shuriken hidden underneath that she knew would be there. “I must warn you though.” With expert handling, ease and grace, she let it fly through the air, embedding it in the wall next to Kirihara-san’s head. “If you ever hurt him intentionally, I’ll kill you.” A friendly smile was in place, but her eyes said she wasn’t lying.

Akaya’s eyes shot open and he looked back at the shuriken in their wall. What was it about this room and being threatened with sharp pointy things?! Maybe he shouldn't have moved after all. This place was dangerous. Where had she even pulled that out of? He nodded slowly. "I would never hurt him, so you don’t have anything to worry about," he said confidently, despite the slight quiver in his voice brought on by the adrenaline. Even though his life was threatened, he appreciated what she'd said before. He was starting to have his doubts though.

\---

Hiyoshi had made it to the airport only about a half hour late, already knowing it was probably a lost cause. Knowing Natsumi who had no patience whatsoever, the minute she saw he wasn’t there, she would have left. Stupid woman, she hadn’t been in Japan for years! What if she got lost? Where would she have gone? After taking a quick look around the arrival gate, he got back in the cab to rush back to campus. Natsumi knew where he went to school and that he lived on campus, so that was the most obvious place to look. He just hoped she wouldn’t run into Akaya before he found her.

He walked around the main campus building trying to spot her before giving up and making his way back to his dorm room. Though he was worried, he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself.   
As he entered his room, he asked hurriedly, “Akaya, have you seen…” She was already there. Glancing around quickly, he saw nothing out of place and no one seemed terribly upset. Leaning back against the door, he let out a huge sigh of relief. Natsumi was here in one piece. Good. Akaya didn’t look like he was about to murder things, namely him. Good.

“Shi-Chan!” The fiancé stood, making her way over to give him a hug she knew he wouldn’t appreciate. Then she pulled back and punched him hard in the arm. “How dare you not be there on time to pick me up! And what the hell? You didn’t even tell your boyfriend I was coming! Do you have any idea how awkward that was?!”

When Natsumi was done with him, Akaya walked over and grabbed him by the collar. "Saitou-chan, please excuse us, I need to speak with Wakashi." With that, he literally dragged his boyfriend out the door and pushed him up against the wall in the hallway, hard. "Hi 'Shi-chan'," he said rather venomously, "We need to have a little chat," he growled. "Why the hell do you have a fiancé? Wait, scratch that. Why the fuck did you not tell me you have a fiancé and that she was coming here?!" His face was inches from Hiyoshi’s and his voice and red eyes showed his obvious anger. That was not fun news to wake up from a nap to.

Hiyoshi groaned at Akaya’s words knowing he deserved them and flinched slightly as the red in his eyes appeared, but he couldn’t try to explain out in the hallway with Natsumi being right on the other side of the wall. This was not the time or place for this discussion. He looked steadily back at him. “I promise to explain, but first let me take care of Natsumi and get her out of here. Then you can be angry at me all you want.”

Akaya frowned and released his boyfriend’s shirt to stomp back inside and slide on his shoes. "It was nice meeting you Saitou-chan," he said politely as he slid them on. "Thank you for being honest with me," even if she did put a hole in their wall, at least someone was honest with him. "But now I'm going to go for a walk," he mumbled and turned to walk back out the door. He needed to cool off. Maybe he'd go visit Sanada or something. At least he knew his fukubuchou would be honest with him, even to the point of being brutal.

Hiyoshi caught Akaya’s arm on his way back out. “Don’t go.” He knew Akaya probably just wanted to cool off, but he couldn’t help worrying that he wouldn’t come back.

Akaya froze at the hand on his arm and glared at nothing. "I'll be back later..." He tugged his arm away before stalking down the hall with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Stiffening at the tone of those words, Hiyoshi felt something cold pierce him physically. He wasn’t going to say anything more or try to stop him again.

Angrily, Akaya walked out the door and let out a frustrated sigh as he trudged to Sanada room. He kind of felt bad dropping in on him since Yanagi was visiting, but damn it, he didn't have anywhere else he was comfortable going when he was this upset. Sanada and Yanagi had always been the best at dealing with his temper and always managed to make him calm down. He just hoped today wouldn't be any different.

Hiyoshi’s noticed the shuriken embedded in the wall as he walked back into the room. “Damn it woman! How many times have I told you not to touch my weapons?!” His eyes narrowed at her. “And if you had any patience whatsoever, I would have been at the airport to pick you up and take you to your hotel, which is where we are going now.” He picked up her bags and started carrying them out.

Completely ignoring Wakashi’s comments, Natsumi followed him out the door. “You’re an idiot. Why didn’t you tell him?” She was sorry that she had been the reason they obviously had a problem now, but it wasn’t her fault and wasn’t going to feel guilty over it. “He would have found out eventually.”

“I didn’t know you were coming until I had to leave for the airport. …And the engagement wasn’t even official until just a few weeks ago. I was going to tell him when it was necessary.” In other words, when he absolutely had to.

“Jeez…Our fathers are infuriating. You didn’t know I was coming? I’m really sorry this puts a damper on your love life but it’s not like I had much of a choice.” They loaded up the taxi and got in.

Hiyoshi didn’t know what to say to that and there was no answer to the problem. He sat, silently brooding, as they sped away towards the hotel.

\---

It was only an hour later when Hiyoshi walked back into his dorm room, cursing when he found his brat had not returned yet. Determined not to over think too much and distract himself, he cleaned the room till it was spotless, removed the shuriken from the wall, trying to cover up the hole, and then got started on his homework.

Akaya wandered in a little while later, looking tired and distracted. He hadn't found his senpai so he'd picked his lock and borrowed Sanada’s tennis bag and keys so he could go play tennis. He'd worked himself to the point of collapsing on the court and now he was just tired and wanted to curl up and not think about anything, but Hiyoshi was there and Natsumi was gone, which meant it was time for them to talk. He was half tempted to walk right back out and sleep over in a friend’s room or something, but his mom always told him running away never solved anything. So he just kicked off his shoes and walked over to flop on the bed unannounced.

Hiyoshi didn’t say anything when Akaya walked back in, just thankful that he’d come back. When Akaya slumped down onto the bed without speaking, he wasn’t sure what he wanted him to do. He’d expected Akaya to be furious; instead, he looked tired and upset. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about it. Hiyoshi had made this mess himself and wasn’t going to force Akaya to talk about it if he didn’t want to. He turned back around to continue working on his homework, though now all he did was stare blankly down at the papers, reading the same line over and over again.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Akaya asked tiredly and laid an arm over his eyes to block out the light, "Were you afraid I would get mad?" he added before resting his other hand on his stomach.

Apparently he did want to talk about it. Hiyoshi closed his book and leaned back in his chair, arms hanging at his sides. “More like I didn’t think it was worth bringing up. Our parents have been talking about it off and on since we were kids but nothing was ever finalized. When I went to stay with them in Singapore… I didn’t think it was going to actually happen.” It wasn’t as if he’d lied to him. He’d honestly just pushed it to the back of his mind since there was no reason to worry about it yet.

"Yet you didn't find it important to tell me 'hey Akaya I’m engaged now'? That's bullshit Wakashi..." he groaned but made no move to sit up. If Wakashi wanted to face him, he could damn well walk over to him. "That's something you're supposed to tell the person you're dating."

“She was still in Singapore. It wouldn’t have made a difference. I had no idea until today that she was coming here to stay with me for a little while.” His father was a bastard like that.

"...She's here to what?" Anger fueled again, Akaya sat up. "Does it just not occur to you that it is important to me to know these things?!" It looked like it was time for a walk again. "Maybe mushrooms really have rotted out your brain."

“I told you, I didn’t know!” It was one thing for Akaya to be angry, but he didn’t appreciate being talked to like that when he was trying to talk about this seriously. “This is exactly why I didn’t tell you. It’s not your problem and I didn’t want you to have to think about it. Of course I would have told you if I had known she was coming to Japan!”

"If you had just told me I wouldn't have had to find out from her when she randomly showed up at our door! She threw a shuriken at my head!!" He snapped and pointed to the hole in the wall. "You shouldn't have waited until it was necessary! How do you think that makes me feel?! It's like you don't trust me with anything important that happens in your life!" He got up and went to slide on his shoes again. He was going to say things he didn't mean if he didn't leave again.

Hiyoshi stood and wrapped his arms around Akaya’s waist securely before he was able to completely put his shoes back on. “Of course I trust you, idiot. My engagement to her isn’t important to me. You are.” He wouldn’t let him leave again. All that would do was postpone the conversation. Distance helped them cool down, but it didn’t solve the problem. “I was trying to avoid hurting you and I fucked up, happy?”

Akaya sighed and relaxed against Hiyoshi because the bastard always found a way to calm him down. "Just... tell me this kind of stuff from now on... You won’t hurt me if you tell me. Finding out from someone else hurts like hell..." He whispered the last sentence.

The mushroom-headed boy’s guilty conscience was really pounding now and he pulled Akaya away from the door and backed them up towards the bed. “Sorry…” He seemed to be saying that a lot lately and he hated it. Maybe Sanada had been right, maybe he did hurt Akaya more often than he realized.

"Alright..." he said quietly and allowed himself to be pulled back toward the bed. He didn't want to argue anymore. All he wanted to do was curl up with Hiyoshi and not worry about fiancé’s or Singapore or anything anymore.

Now that Hiyoshi was reassured that his boyfriend wasn’t going to leave upset and the argument seemed to be over, he let go of Akaya to give him space and hopefully indicate what he wanted. The last thing he needed was to do something else to piss him off.

Akaya smiled at his boyfriend and pulled off his shirt and pants, then crawled under the blankets. "You wanna take a nap with me?"

Hiyoshi wasn’t tired, but he didn’t want to lose the contact with Akaya either. He took off his own pants and shirt, leaving him in his boxers, and grabbed the textbook he’d been looking at earlier off his desk before getting into bed beside him. “You go ahead and get some sleep. I have to do some more studying for a test coming up.”

Feeling much better now, Akaya nodded and stretched before wrapping himself around Hiyoshi. "I love you Wakashi, never forget that," he mumbled before falling asleep against the other man.

Hiyoshi smiled fondly down at the sleeping brat and relaxed back against the headboard with a sleeping demon in his lap. With one hand he held the book up to read, while the other mindlessly ran through curly dark locks, the motion familiar and soothing to both of them.


	39. Chapter 39

Hiyoshi was finally on his way home after having lunch with Natsumi. Actually, that was wrong. They were supposed to just have lunch, but that turned into him taking her on a quick shopping trip, then she talked him into taking her by his fraternity, which turned into having an impromptu training and sparring session. He didn’t mind, it was nice going out with a friend that he was comfortable around and whom he shared a lot of common interests with. Nevertheless, he was glad when his dorm came into view and hoped Akaya would be home. Even though they lived together, they hadn’t managed to see a lot of each other since Natsumi arrived.

To anyone else, they may have looked like regular college roommates with how little they saw each other now. Anyone who didn't already know wouldn’t have guessed that they were lovers. Akaya hated it. He was cranky and didn't want to talk to anyone. He'd been like that ever since Natsumi showed up. He didn't have anything against her personally, but he hated her because she took all of his time with his boyfriend. He walked into their room and put down his tennis bag before grabbing his game boy and flopping down on the bed. "Stupid Wakashi," he mumbled and started on his quest to collect them all.

Walking into the room, Hiyoshi was glad to see Akaya on the bed with his usual past time, a video game. Happy at the familiar sight and suddenly in a good mood, he announced quietly that he was home before putting his stuff down and joining him over on the bed. He picked up the book on the nightstand he’d been slowly making his way through for the last week and casually asked, “How was tennis practice? Any games coming up soon?”

"Hn," Akaya mumbled, taking a page from his fukubuchous book. "Fuck, come on Jigglypuff! What are you doing?!" He snapped at the game boy before throwing it across the bed and rolling to his side, facing away from Hiyoshi.

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at Akaya’s temper, but it wasn’t uncommon for him to get overly involved in his games, so he didn’t think much on it. He smirked and pet Akaya’s hair. “Let me know when your next game is.” Leaning back, he opened the book to where he left off and started to read.

"Like you really care," the aggravated demon mumbled. "So how's Saitou-chan?" he asked, barely masking his bitterness at the whole situation. It just wasn't fair. Wakashi was his and she was taking up all his time with him.

Hiyoshi looked up from his book with a frown. Why was Akaya in such a bad mood? “What are you talking about, brat? You know I like watching you play.” He sighed and closed his book; apparently he wasn’t going to be getting any reading done. His hand reached back out to tangle in Akaya’s hair again. Maybe he just wanted attention. “Natsumi’s fine. I think she’s trying to kill me with the amount of socializing she inflicts on me, but I kicked her ass in the dojo today.” It was always fun pissing her off by beating her on the mats.

"Good for you," Akaya grumbled and tried not to let himself be soothed by the touch to his hair. Even though the fingers along his scalp felt amazing, he couldn't let himself be relaxed. He was mad at Hiyoshi, damn it. He was mad that the other didn't even seem to care or notice that he was upset. Stupid boyfriends. Stupid fiancées.

This was getting frustrating. They finally were home together and Akaya was acting like a stubborn spoiled child. The petting stopped and Hiyoshi crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or are you going to continue pouting to yourself and let me get back to my book?”

"You don't know?" Akaya glared at the wall. "Wakashi, how much have we seen each other lately?" He rolled over to face the other man, a stern glare on his face. "You spend so much time with your goddamn fiancé, you're never home." he sounded like a lonely mistress and he hated it, but he couldn't help that was how he felt.

He shouldn’t be surprised that this was what Akaya was upset about, but he thought his boyfriend would be a little more understanding than that. “I know we haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together since you’ve been busy with tennis practices and I’ve been spending time with Natsumi, but it’s not going to last for very long.” He missed seeing his boyfriend, too. It wasn’t as if he was not seeing him on purpose. “Natsumi doesn’t know anyone else around here. I’m just spending time with her while she’s visiting.”

"We don’t even see each other before we go to sleep. And she won't find friends if you keep hanging around her all the time. She doesn't have to if you're there." He sulked and rolled back over.

“She’s only been here for five days! Should I have to apologize for enjoying myself and wanting to spend time with one of my friends?” Hiyoshi got up off the bed and paced back and forth for a moment before sitting down at his desk chair. “You could always come with us, you know. She already knows about us, it’s not as if we’re excluding you.”

"Oh sorry, wouldn't want to be a third wheel or nothing," He buried his face in the pillow. Stupid Wakashi. He knew he shouldn't be snapping at him but he couldn't help it. He took a deep breath and looked at his stupid boyfriend. "I just... I just miss you alright..."

Irritated eyes softened. “Idiot. I miss you, too.” He went to the floor on his knees in front of the bed, so they were at the same eye level. “So why are we spending our time together arguing like this?”

Akaya smiled a little and pulled the other man into a kiss. "Because we're both stubborn," he mumbled and patted the bed next to him. "Join me?" he said with a bit of a mischievous smile.

Hiyoshi allowed a small smile and climbed back onto the bed with Akaya, wrapping his arms around him as he lay down basically on top of him, nestling against his neck and holding him close.

Akaya smiled and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi, holding him tightly in a possessive manner. Wakashi was his and only his. He kissed the side of his boyfriend’s head and closed his eyes.

“Hey, no falling asleep, brat. Didn’t we just discuss that we haven’t spent enough time around each other awake? We can go out if you want.”

"I'm not asleep." He opened his eyes again. "What do you want to do?" he asked curiously and looked at Hiyoshi.

Shrugging, Hiyoshi answered in a relaxed tone. “Doesn’t matter,” He then leaned over to brush his lips over the others’ before sitting up next to him. “As long as it’s with you, whatever you want is fine.”

Akaya sat up, smiling after the little kiss. "Anything is fine, huh?" He asked with that devilish little smirk that meant he was going to say something that was going to make Hiyoshi blush and/or get very angry with him.

Hiyoshi really needed to learn not to make such open ended comments with his boyfriend since he was too good at taking advantage of them. “…What do you have in mind?” he asked warily, knowing that look only too well.

Akaya laughed and shook his head. "Never mind. You wanna go get ice cream?" he asked and stood up to go over to his closet and look for something to change into. He just didn't have the heart tonight to suggest dragging his boyfriend into a sex shop. Maybe tomorrow.

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at that. Well, if Akaya wasn’t going to suggest anything else… Maybe he could try to make up for unintentionally ignoring him for the last couple of days. “That’s fine. If you want, we can also go dancing…”

Akaya’s eyes lit up. "Dancing?" he said with another little devilish smirk and turned around to face his boyfriend. "Where do you wanna go dancing?"

By the look he was given, apparently it had been a good idea. “We can go to the same place we went last time.” It had been a long time since he’d taken Akaya dancing and it hadn’t been that bad. It hadn’t ended terribly like all the other times they’d gone to a bar either.

"Awesome," The happy demon brat turned back around to the closet to look for something tight and sexy. He wanted to drive Hiyoshi crazy when they were dancing and maybe he could convince him to have some fun in a dark corner or the bathroom or something.

Hiyoshi gave a small smile, glad that Akaya seemed happier now, and sat down on the bed to wait patiently while Akaya changed. He looked down at his own plain everyday clothes and shrugged, not really caring enough to change.

After he changed, Akaya stood before Hiyoshi with a proud smile. He was dressed in tight jeans that hugged in all the right places, but that he knew for a fact were easy to get off when needed, along with and a loose shirt that would have looked perfect on a girl but that suited him just fine. "Ready?"

“Yes.” Hiyoshi stood up feeling a little self conscious now just in his plain blue jeans and t-shirt. It was obvious he wasn’t very good at this. “You look good.” Actually, he looked better than good, but he wasn’t very good at compliments either.

\---

They hadn’t gone out to a club together in months. Hiyoshi felt guilty about it since he knew how much Akaya enjoyed taking him out to these places. As they walked into the large space of colorful lights and powerful base music, he was at least glad to note that it wasn’t overly crowded. That was one of the few things he’d appreciated about this particular club last time they’d come. The crowd seemed a bit less rowdy than other places he’d been dragged to, and the music was a mix of annoying and acceptable as opposed to annoying and deafening. In other words, it was tolerable, though it wouldn’t have mattered in the end anyway if it got Akaya to smile the way he was right now.

It was a great night to go to the club, not too busy, but just enough people to make it interesting. "You wanna get a drink first?" Akaya asked curiously and turned to his boyfriend, beaming. "Or you ready to hit the floor?" he asked with a little wink.

Hiyoshi let out a little amused laugh at Akaya’s enthusiasm and took his hand. “Let’s ‘hit the floor’ first. We can take a break and get a drink after.” Akaya’s smile made him do funny things, like voluntarily lead him out onto a crowded dance floor.

Akaya barely restrained a childish 'yay!' and instead just squeezed Hiyoshi’s hand as he was led out onto the floor. Once they'd secured a little piece of the hardwood floor, he wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s neck and started swaying with him to the music.

Wrapping his arms around Akaya’s waist, Hiyoshi grinned as he followed Akaya’s lead, letting their bodies move together to the music. It amazed him how doing this in front of so many people didn’t bother him anymore. When Akaya was in his arms smiling at him like that, that was all he cared about.

The smiling boy laughed happily as the music thumped. Neither of them paid any attention to the whispers of shock and confusion and even the couple 'awwww's of girls who read too much doujinshi. Okay... so he kinda listened to those, he liked those, but he also loved that it didn't bother Hiyoshi anymore.

Hiyoshi didn’t notice any of the commentary going on around them. He had learned a while back to block it out in order to maintain his sanity. As the tempo of the music picked up, so did the dancing. He pulled Akaya even closer, having to move his hips faster to keep up with the rhythm, and placed a small kiss at the base of his neck.

Akaya was in heaven. He was finally out with his boyfriend and away from the stress of unexpected fiancées and school and practices. He could just think about the way they moved together and the beat of the music. Some meditated, some used tai chi, some used both (Sanada-fukubuchou), but all he needed to clear his mind was his boyfriend and a good beat.

As good as it had been seeing Natsumi this week, it was nice to get away and finally spend some time alone with his boyfriend. Hiyoshi still felt guilty for hurting him by not saying anything about her and he hadn’t meant to ignore him for the past couple of days. He hoped that tonight would make up for at least some of that and be good for them. If that meant leaving Natsumi on her own for a few hours then so be it, besides, he was confident she could handle entertaining herself for an evening just fine.

\---

Natsumi was bored and had decided to go out on her own that night. Wakashi had been the one to tell her about this place just today. She had already been at the club for a while, talking to a few random people, doing a bit of socializing, when she noticed Shi-chan and his boyfriend on the dance floor. She was more than a little surprised to see him here, let alone dancing. She would never have imagined Wakashi coming willingly to a dance club.

An eyebrow was raised in stunned amusement when she saw how closely and dare she say lustfully her fiancé was dancing with his boyfriend. She hadn’t been aware that Wakashi could even do that. She wished with every fiber in her body that she had her camera on her and was about to approach them and tease Wakashi mercilessly when they turned slightly and she got a good look at her friend’s face. She had never seen Wakashi looking so happy before, really and truly happy, and it made her stop in her tracks. With a small smile, she went back sit down at the bar deciding to wait and let them have their time together. It didn’t hurt to watch though, it was cute.

As the song ended, Akaya grinned from ear to ear and pushed their lips together in a chaste but affectionate kiss. He'd needed this, more than even he'd realized.

Though the public kiss made him a little self-conscious, Hiyoshi didn’t pull away. Akaya had once told him that he needed both private and public affection sometimes. It was still hard for him but he could tell that right now was one of those times. With steel resolve, he took Akaya’s chin in his hand and held him there a little bit longer, returning the kiss. When he pulled away, he was a little flushed but otherwise fine. Pulled him closer again, he placed another small kiss on the side of his boyfriend’s curly head.

She must be seeing things. Shi-chan did NOT just lovingly kiss his boyfriend in a very crowded, very public room. Hell, she couldn’t even get him to hold hands with her in public when they were kids! Feeling uncomfortable for having witnessed it, Natsumi turned around and downed her drink. She was happy for him; really, she just hadn’t been prepared for how much this relationship had changed him. As long as he was happy though, she wasn’t going judge it. She continued on with her back turned, giving them their privacy.

Smiling, Akaya hugged him tightly. He hadn't pulled away. He'd been worried that Hiyoshi would turn away, but he'd kissed him back. Tonight really was just what he needed. He nuzzled up to Hiyoshi’s neck and held him close. "I love you, Wakashi..."

Holding his brat tighter, Hiyoshi was about to reply when a familiar form caught his attention over at the bar. His body automatically stiffened self-consciously, but he continued his movements, hoping that Akaya wouldn’t notice. He had told Natsumi about this place earlier today when she’d asked about what bars he’d been to, but hadn’t thought she would actually come out by herself. Apparently he’d been mistaken. Shit. Trying to be as subtle as possible, he maneuvered the two of them so that Akaya’s back was facing her. Maybe she would leave soon and Akaya would never even notice she was there.

Akaya felt his boyfriend stiffen and his own heart clench when Hiyoshi didn't say it back, just simply turned them so his back was to the bar. That was not a good thing, not a good thing at all. He pushed away from his boyfriend slowly with his bangs covering his eyes. "I'm going to the toilet," he said simply and maneuvered through the crowd quickly toward the restrooms, trying to get away from his boyfriend quickly before he did something stupid, like cry or something. Guys didn't cry, at least not in public.

Hiyoshi kept a watchful eye on Natsumi just in case she turned around and saw them, assuming she hadn’t already. Just when he was about to ask Akaya if he wanted to go out to the balcony or something to get away, he suddenly pulled away from him. Hiyoshi didn’t even have time to respond before Akaya was already gone. He hoped nothing was wrong and Akaya really just needed to use the facilities. He scanned the bar again to find Natsumi, maybe he should take this opportunity to ask her to leave.

‘Oh well,’ the female martial artist thought. ‘Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it definitely would take a lot more than that to kill me.’ Turning around to look for them in the crowd again, she jumped a little when her eyes automatically found Shi-chan’s looking straight back at her with his boyfriend no longer with him. Not worried, she just smiled and gave him a little wave, winking teasingly at him in the process. What were childhood friends for after all?

With a sigh, Hiyoshi made his way over to her quickly. “What are you doing here? I thought you said you were going back to the hotel?”

“I did. Then I got bored and came here.” She shrugged back. “I didn’t know you were coming with your boyfriend.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him and laughed teasingly. “You’re both so cute!”

Hiyoshi’s face tinted red and he scowled, punching her in the arm. “Shut up! I don’t want to hear that from anyone, especially you!”

“Aww~! Shi-chan, I know your father taught you not to hit a lady, especially in public.” She was having too much fun now. He was just too much fun to tease and his light punches were nothing to her.

Hiyoshi smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re not a lady.”

Akaya locked himself in one of the squat toilet stalls and sat down on the little shelf in there, bringing his knees up to his chest. Stupid Wakashi. He felt like the stupid one now and he hated it. He'd never liked feeling stupid and had usually yelled at anyone who made him feel like that, but he couldn't do that now, at least not at the club. He didn't mind people staring at him, but he didn't like making a scene, especially when he knew it would just make Hiyoshi defensive. So that left him wondering what to do next…

Akaya was taking a long time. As fun as it was bantering with Natsumi, his boyfriend was Hiyoshi’s first priority. “I need to go find Akaya, try to stay out of trouble.”

“Is he okay?” Natsumi asked worriedly. He’d seemed fine early when she’d seen them dancing. The last thing she wanted to do was make trouble for the two of them.

“I’m sure he’s fine. He’s not a weak little girl like you.” With that, he quickly turned around and dashed off before she could get off her stool and attempt to kick his ass in the middle of the bar. People might take it the wrong way.

Natsumi’s eyes widened and she was about to go on a rampage and show him exactly how much of a weakling she wasn’t when the coward ran off. She crossed her arms and slumped back down into her chair with an unladylike growl. She would get him back for that later.

“Akaya? Are you in here?” Hiyoshi called out uncomfortably, entering the bar bathrooms. Though it was at least well kept, it smelled terrible.

"Yeah...." Akaya mumbled and opened the door to the stall to walk out and wash his hands like nothing had happened, not quite looking at Hiyoshi.

Being the only ones in there at the moment, Hiyoshi took his hand after he finished washing them and kissed his palm. “I was wondering what was taking so long and got a little worried. I was probably just thinking too much again though, right? Want to get those drinks now?”

Akaya smiled and nodded. "Yeah." 'No, you were right,' he added in his head, but outwardly showed no signs of the thought. He took Hiyoshi’s hand and waited for the other to lead the way toward the bar.

As they walked back out of the bathroom, Hiyoshi suddenly remembered that he’d forgotten to tell Natsumi to get the hell out. Shit. There was nothing he could do about it now, so he led Akaya back out and to the bars like he said he would, hoping maybe Natsumi had read his mind like she sometimes did and had already left. No such luck. She was still sitting where he’d left her. He tightened his hold on Akaya’s hand just in case.

As they walked out to the Akaya’s his eyes trailed over the patrons, looking for anyone he recognized since other students tended to hang out there as well, but when his eyes fell on someone he didn't expect or want to see, his whole body tensed. What was she doing there?!

“I didn’t know she would be here.” Hiyoshi said silently when he felt Akaya tense, but then Natsumi was standing and beckoning them to sit with her. He sighed and decided to get this over with. He sent a mental apology to Akaya and pulled him along towards her.

“Hello again, Kirihara-san. This is such a coincidence. I had no idea you two would be here tonight.” Natsumi turned towards Kirihara and gave him a sincere apologetic look. “I’m sorry if I interrupted your date. You two looked so cute together on the dance floor though.” She gave Hiyoshi an overly cutesy smirk, daring him to comment.

Akaya forced a smile, ignoring Hiyoshi’s little lie, though for once he sounded completely normal. Hiyoshi was getting better at faking it. "Heh heh, Hey, how's it goin'?" he asked and let go of Hiyoshi’s hand, the only sign of his displeasure with the situation. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned back against the counter. "Oh, you were watching us?"

The teasing girl nodded to his question with a smile, not feeling guilty in the least. “Good. It’s nice to be in Japan again. It’s been very nice of Shi-chan to take me around. Would you two like anything to drink?”

Hiyoshi sighed and held back his comments for Akaya’s sake, only able to glare daggers at Natsumi for being so annoying. Even if he wasn’t showing it, he knew that Akaya wasn’t happy with the situation, but didn’t know what he could do about it at this point.

"Tequila for me," Akaya said simply and waved down the bartender who asked him how he was doing and where he'd been. Akaya made small talk with her for a minute, before ordering and turning to the other two. "What are ya guys gettin'?"

“I’ll have a—“

“He’ll have an Oolong tea and I’ll just have water now please.” Natsumi cut in and flashed warning eyes at Hiyoshi afterward. “You’re not allowed to drink after what happened last time.” She’d already had plenty to drink since she’d just been sitting by herself for a while before they got there. She gave Kirihara-san a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry you’re stuck taking care of this pain in the ass who has no tolerance for alcohol whatsoever.”

Akaya forced another very convincing smile and a chuckle. "I'm used to it," he explained simply. He'd seen enough of his boyfriend drunk though and was very happy that Natsumi kept him from drinking.

Hiyoshi crossed his arms and tried not to growl. “Mind your own business! And I wasn’t going to--”

“You were going to order an Oolong tea, so no harm done, right?” She interrupted him again and turned back to Kirihara. She was enjoying herself way too much. “He has a rather nasty temper too, so I wouldn’t—OUCH! Hey!! I already told you, you shouldn’t hit a lady in public!”

Smirking and feeling a little better now, Hiyoshi folded his arms back in again after punching Natsumi in the arm hard enough to leave at least a small bruise this time. “And I already told you, you’re not a lady. Hell, you’re more manly than most of the men I know.”

“Aww~! Shi-chan, coming from you that’s such a nice compliment! Kirihara-san, did you know that when Shi-chan was little, he used to--”

Hiyoshi immediately gloved her mouth with his hand, effectively silencing her. “That’s enough, Nat-chan” he said threateningly, giving her a glare that promised eminent pain if she continued.

Akaya frowned at Hiyoshi punching her in the arm and in turn punched him in the arm. "Don't hit girls," he said flatly, glad to get a bit of his frustration with the situation out. He turned his attention back to Natsumi and listened intently until Hiyoshi covered her mouth. He frowned and turned back to the bartender as she brought over their drinks. "Thanks," he mumbled and drank his tequila down quickly before putting the empty cup out for her to refill.

Hiyoshi turned his glare on Akaya and shrugged. “She’ll be fine.”

Natsumi pushed Hiyoshi’s hand off and laughed. “Thanks for defending me, Kirihara-san. He’s so abusive towards me!” She ignored the incredulous look Shi-chan gave her at that. Okay, maybe she abused him more… Heh, heh.

“Akaya? Are you okay?” Hiyoshi asked his boyfriend, changing the subject. He seemed to be drinking a lot more than usual. Maybe they should leave. At this point it would be rude of him to ask Natsumi to leave.

"I'm fine," Akaya said simply and drank down his other glass before getting it refilled. He'd always liked this bartender. She always knew when he needed another one without asking. "Thanks," he mumbled to her and drank down the third glass. He could already feel the liquid warming him and it made his anger ebb, just a little.

Natsumi looked between the two, feeling a little guilty. “Sorry guys. I’m the one in the way, right? Hey, Shi-chan! They’re playing one of our songs! Kirihara-san? Do you mind if I borrow him for one dance? Then I’ll get out of your way.” She gave him a friendly smile and waited for his permission.

Akaya blinked and looked at her then turned his attention back to his empty glass. "Go for it," he mumbled and waited for a refill. They had a god damn song? Damn it. This sucked.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. Natsumi had a whole selection of songs that she claimed were “their songs.” He was about to say no, but then Akaya confused him by agreeing and then he was being dragged back out to the dance floor. The song was one he reorganized but he couldn’t put a name to it. Well, if Akaya didn’t mind… He gave into the inevitable.

“I really do feel bad about intruding, but it’s been so long since we’ve danced together!” Natsumi smiled and put one hand on his shoulder and the other in his palm.

Hiyoshi just nodded and copied her positioning, easily taking her waist in one hand and held her hand back in the other. He listened to the music again and realized it would work for a waltz. If that was what she wanted, it was fine with him. It would be easier anyway since he knew what he was doing when it came to ballroom. Effortlessly, they began to move fluidly together in their small area as if they had been training together all their lives, which they had.

Akaya waited for his refill, and when it didn’t come, he looked up at the bartender to find her staring at the dance floor. He frowned and turned around to look at what she and half the club were now staring at. A couple ballroom dancing. He rolled his eyes and was about to turn around when he realized it was his boyfriend that was dancing. His heart ached again at how comfortable Hiyoshi looked. He hated it. He turned around and hit his glass down a little forcefully on the counter, waiting again for his refill.

It had been a long time since they had danced together and Hiyoshi found himself enjoying it. He would never admit that he actually sorta kinda somewhat liked ballroom dancing, and Natsumi was a good partner he was comfortable with. He spun her around a few times, doing a little bit more fancy footwork than he would usually be able to. They both smirked at each other when the crowd opened up for them, giving them more space. They both liked to show off.

When the song came to an end and the crowd clapped, Natsumi smiled excitedly at Hiyoshi who only rolled his eyes in response. “I’ll go ahead and leave now.” She said to him with a wink. “Go have fun with your boyfriend.”

Hiyoshi nodded and squeezed her hand gratefully before letting go and turning back to return to his boyfriend who was looking a little slumped over the counter.

“Akaya?” He asked as he came up behind him, placing a hand on his lower back. “Natsumi left. What would you like to do now?”

"Don't touch me, Wakashi..." Akaya said quietly and lifted his face from where he had it buried in his arms on the counter. "I want to go home..." he mumbled and looked up to the bartender who now had a 3/4 empty tequila bottle. It had been full when she'd first poured him a glass. "T-thanks Mika--c-chan---" He was well and truly plastered.

Hiyoshi’s hand on Akaya’s back immediately pulled back as if scorched. Akaya never told him not to touch him. Was he that upset Natsumi had shown up? But she was gone now and they hadn’t even been there for that long. “…Are you sure? Anything you want is fine…” He didn’t mind going home, but the point of coming out in the first place had been to make Akaya happy.

"I just wanna go home, Wakashi...." The sloshed boy said quietly and got up on shaky legs to start toward the door. After a couple seconds though he realized he wasn't going to be able to do it by himself. He knew when he was drunk beyond the point of being able to take care of himself and it was one of those nights. "Hey... C-can you--help me? Stuff is-sspinnin--" he mumbled and reached out to hug Hiyoshi, for a moment forgetting he was mad at him because it just felt so nice to just hug his boyfriend close and take in his scent, but now, now his scent was tainted with the smell of Natsumi and he hated it. Her and her stupid song and her stupid dancing and her stupid fiancée crap. Wakashi was his and no one else’s... at least that's what he'd thought. Apparently he was wrong... Hiyoshi wouldn't even say 'I love you' anymore. She was ruining everything and he hated her for it.

One moment he was being told not to touch him, the next Akaya was stumbling into his arms. “Akaya… are you…” He didn’t finish the sentence. The answer was obvious. He had never seen Akaya this drunk before and wasn’t sure what the best way to handle the situation was. “Alright, let’s go home.” He wrapped an arm around Akaya’s waist to steady him and called over the bar tender to pay the tab. When he was told the amount, his eyes widened considerably. ‘How much did the brat drink?’ he wondered worriedly. It took a lot for Akaya to get drunk, that much he knew.

Akaya leaned against his boyfriend’s side and looked around at all the people moving in time with the music and frowned. He'd been one of those people earlier. Why couldn't he still be one of those people? "We don't have a song..." he mumbled under his breath and glanced at his lover, though his eyes refused to focus.

Hiyoshi could barely hear him above the crowds and he’d been distracted while paying. Something about a song? “You want to dance to one more song before we leave?” He figured it was best to just go along with whatever Akaya wanted from him for the rest of the night. He had no idea what upset him enough to let this happen, but he had a sinking feeling it was his fault again.

Akaya shook his head. "No... I wanna go home--" he said again, this time making sure his voice carried over the crowd. He wanted to go home, maybe raid his happy shelf for another drink, then curl up in bed and pass out in a drunken stupor because he knew that would be the only way he could rest. For the first time in a long time, the cries of agony from his liver would be his lullaby.

“Okay…” Holding Akaya securely at his side, Hiyoshi led them toward the exit and out into the cool night air. The small wind felt nice on his skin, but he didn’t have a chance to appreciate it since he was focusing all of his attention and energy on the most important person in his life, the person who was currently very drunk and stumbling against him.

As they walked back towards the dorms, Hiyoshi tried to think of something, anything he could say to make things better, but he had no idea where to even start. Akaya usually told him what he needed to say, what he needed to do to make him happy. Despite the fact that he was the sober one, right now he was the one feeling helpless and he hated it.

Why didn't Hiyoshi say anything? Say ‘I love you?’ That's all it would take to make him happier, but that seemed out of his reach and he kept himself quiet. As they walked, he glanced sideways at Hiyoshi. "You're a dick..." he said simply and leaned more against his lover’s side as his legs threatened to give out. “Wakashi...” He mumbled, "If you love her, why do you stay with me?"

‘Yeah, I’m starting to get that impression, too’ Hiyoshi thought before almost tripping when he heard Akaya’s next statement. He stopped walking completely and opened his mouth to answer but nothing came out, so he closed his eyes to calm himself. He couldn’t believe… “How can you even ask me that?” he whispered in a pained tone. “Akaya, you’re…. you’re such an idiot!” His grip on Akaya’s waist tightened and his whole body was shaking with restraint.

"You didn't say it back… You just... ignored me…" The inebriated boy sniffled before wiping at his eyes, stupid alcohol. "And you look so comfortable with her... You guys have stuff in common that we don't. I didn't even know you liked ballroom dancing… and you guys even have a song... It's like you're made for each other or something."

That was it. He’d had enough of this. However, he couldn’t have this conversation with Akaya outside in the middle of the street. This slow pace be damned. He picked Akaya up bridal style; he would have just thrown him over his shoulder as usual but was worried about him getting sick in his current state. “We’re going home now and you’re not allowed to think or speak anything else that resembles that last statement until we get there. Do I make myself clear?”

Wincing, Akaya nodded slowly and held on to his lover tightly, burying his face in the other’s shoulder. As they walked in silence a thought occurred to Akaya and he looked at Hiyoshi with surprise in his eyes. "I'm drunk," he said simply.

“I know.” Hiyoshi replied crossly. “If you weren’t I’d have kicked your ass by now.” But that didn’t mean he couldn’t still kick his ass in the morning depending on what happened after they got home.

"Did you see all the tequila I drank?" The bratty demon continued on curiously and smiled a little. He'd been banned from thinking about Natsumi until they got home, so he didn't, and it made him a lot happier. He smiled a little and nuzzled Hiyoshi’s neck. "I don't care if you can't say it back anymore... I love you." He paused for another moment, then his drunk mind seemed to realize something else. "Why are you carrying me like I'm a princess or sumthin’?"

“Yes, I know exactly how much you drank.” He’d inquired after the tab after all and still felt sick just thinking about it, but at least Akaya seemed happier now. When Akaya told him that he loved him again, his whole body lightened and some of his anxiety melted away. Was all this because of just that? The thought was upsetting. “I’m carrying you like a goddamn princess because I was worried about you getting sick if I just threw you over my shoulder.” …And I was worried you’d just slip off or fight me if I tried to carry you on my back.

"Oh," was the simple reply as he swung his legs a little. "Maybe I should wear a dress." Akaya chuckled at the thought. "I bet I could make cross-dressing sexy."

Hiyoshi snickered and held his legs tighter. “You’re not light you know. Stop that or I’ll drop you.” Though his tone was harsh, he chanced a moment to look away from the street to drop a small kiss on the top of his head and whispered affectionately. “I have full confidence that you could make just about anything sexy.”

Akaya smiled and hid his face against Hiyoshi’s neck again, but obediently stopped kicking his legs for now. It wasn't an 'I love you' or 'I'm sorry' but it would do for now.

When they finally arrived home, Hiyoshi set Akaya back on his feet in order to unlock and open the door to their room then nudged him inside.

Akaya tried to take off his shoes himself and nearly landed on his face because of it, but luckily his boyfriend was there to stabilize him and help him. As soon as his shoes were off, he got up and swayed his way over to the bed to fall on it. He was home and allowed to think about Natsumi again, happy time was over...

Hiyoshi watched as Akaya collapsed onto the bed with a sigh. They needed to talk about what happened, but Akaya was drunk and he wasn’t sure how cognizant he actually was. He sat down on the bed next to him and started running his hand through his hair, hoping it would sooth them both. “I’m disappointed,” he started out slowly. If there was one thing he’d learned from his relationship from Akaya in the last few days, it was that his boyfriend preferred it when he just came out and told him what was on his mind. He would try.

"Me too..." Akaya mumbled into the sheets and turned his head to look at Hiyoshi as he was petted. At least he didn't feel like throwing things anymore. "Why are you disappointed?" he asked curiously, but still sounding like someone had just told him he was never allowed to play tennis ever again.

‘Great. Make me go first.’ “After all this time… everything I’ve said and done for you, how can you possibly think I don’t love you anymore?” Hiyoshi’s hand tensed on Akaya’s head for a moment but then continued his brushing of soft curls. “You should know me well enough by now to know that if I didn’t love you then I wouldn’t be with you.” He tried so hard to constantly show Akaya how much he loved him in his own way. “Even if I get distracted and don’t say the words, I shouldn’t have to in order for you to know that I do.”

"You've been different lately... ever since she showed up..." Akaya pouted and sighed, "And she knows all this stuff about you that I don’t... and you guys even have a goddamn song... and hell, you're already engaged! How am I supposed to not be scared? Especially when for all I know, you could be lying to me right now." He chuckled bitterly, "I'd have no idea..."

“I’ve known her since before we could walk. Of course she knows things about me that you don’t.” This was exasperating. “I don’t even know what the name of that song was. She likes music and there’s a lot of songs she claims are ‘our songs,’ I really couldn’t care less about it.” He sighed and pulled his hand away for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. “Don’t you trust me at all?”

"I always have, then stuff like this started happening. What else are you keeping from me so you 'don't hurt me' Wakashi?" His voice got sharper as his annoyance with the other man grew. "Obviously my trust was misplaced… but you, why don't you trust me? What have I EVER done to ever give you a reason not to trust me?"

“I do trust you! I wouldn’t be able to be with you if I didn’t! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me when we first got together? When I knew that you could have anyone you wanted… You freaked out when you found out about my history and friendship with Choutarou yet you’ve fucked almost everyone in town! Now you’re on my case about Natsumi? How do you think I feel?” His voice was rising, the worry of Akaya finding someone else was something he constantly had to push aside and trust him on.

"At least I never hid that from you!!" Akaya sat up, clutching his pillow to his chest and glared at nothing. "I told you from the beginning who I am and what I'm like... no surprises, no lies. Is it wrong to expect the same?! To expect your boyfriend of six goddamn months to be honest with you?!" He snapped and held the pillow tightly. "I may have slept with a lot of people... but... at least I never lied to you, Wakashi. I never once did something to break your trust in me..." He sniffled quietly and hid his face in the soft fabric.

“I’ve never lied to you…” Hiyoshi tried to counter softly. Akaya’s tears made him want to take him in his arms and just make them forget any of this happened, but he knew that wasn’t an option. “But I would do almost anything to make you happy and keep you from leaving me…” he confessed, ‘even if it means not telling you things that might hurt you.’ “I already told you why I didn’t mention my engagement to Natsumi before. Even if we are engaged, as long as you’re with me, we’re never going to get married. Neither of us would let that happen. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want this to happen.”

"I'm not upset about her..." Akaya mumbled and wiped at his eye. "Saitoh-chan is really nice... but... the thing that hurts is that you didn't tell me... not telling me is the same as lying Wakashi. It hurts just as bad... and I already told you I wasn't going to leave you... Stop being so damn paranoid!" he shook his head to try and clear it and sighed. "I don't care how stupid you may think something is or how much you think it may hurt me... I wanna know... because I would tell you."

“I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry.” He was apologizing again. He did that a lot and it was proof of just how much of a terrible boyfriend he really was, making Akaya cry as often as he did. Hiyoshi turned away from Akaya and faced the room, legs hanging off the side of the bed. “I’ll try not to keep things like this from you, but I don’t know how to stop being paranoid. There are so many rea…” He stopped himself, knowing Akaya didn’t want to hear it. He felt defeated and it was the worst feeling in the world.

Akaya frowned as Hiyoshi stopped and moved over to sit next to him, still holding the pillow. "So many reasons? Like what?" he asked gently and reached out to take his boyfriend’s hand.

Hiyoshi looked sideways at Akaya and shook his head. “You don’t want to hear it. It’s just my annoying paranoia talking.” He gave him a sad smile and stood up, trying to change the subject. “For being so drunk, you’ve been amazingly cohesive through this, but maybe we should just go to bed—“

"I've always been good at that..." Akaya interrupted, glaring at Hiyoshi. "And you're not changing the subject. If I didn't want to hear it I wouldn't ask, so sit your ass down and tell me."

Hiyoshi glared back. “What’s the point of this? You may just forget about all this by morning anyway.” He really didn’t want to lay bare the list of reasons why Akaya shouldn’t be with him. Somehow he knew by saying it all out loud that something bad would happen, like Akaya would finally realize what he was saying was true, or worse.

"To try and save our relationship, you ass, and I won't forget! I never do. Besides, I'm sobering up anyway..." He was half tempted to grab the tequila off his shelf and down the whole thing before continuing this conversation. "If you really give a crap about me and about how I feel then tell me, tell me what you think. What this big list of reasons is. If you can't trust me enough to do that then what kind of future do we have Wakashi?"

That was exactly the problem. Hiyoshi already thought they didn’t have a future. He was just trying to enjoy and love what they had now and didn’t want to destroy that, but it looked like he was already going to if he didn’t at least open up to him a little. He remained silent, lost in thought for a few minutes as he tried to decide what he could say. He had to say something.

Akaya watched Hiyoshi hopefully, but as time dragged on, the hope faded from his eyes only to be replaced with a red hue. The Rikkai demon set the pillow aside and stood up to face his boyfriend. He looked at him for a moment then pulled his fist back to punch him across the jaw.

The punch came completely unexpected and his head whipped to the side at the impact and Hiyoshi fell across the bed. “Akaya… what are you…?” His eyes widened as he saw his boyfriend’s red eyes and he knew he was in trouble.

"Bastard," the red-eyed demon mumbled and brought his arm up to wipe at his eyes. "So... what you said... about loving me... even if you don't say it... is a lie too..." He sniffled and took a deep shaky breath to keep himself from crying. "Wakashi..." he murmured, the red already fading from his eyes, "What did I do wrong?" He sniffled again and bit his lower lip before looking down and pulling more of his curly hair forward to hide his eyes. He felt so stupid.

“No… NO! Stupid brat!” Hiyoshi sat back up and grabbed Akaya, pulling him onto his lap and held him fiercely against him. “I love you… I love you so much I don’t know how the hell to handle it.” The words started to pour out of his mouth, his jaw aching with every word, but Akaya’s words had hurt ten times more than the punch.

“I don’t know what else I can do...” he started off pathetically. “I keep trying so hard to do what’s best and do things that will make you happy and just end up hurting you and I don’t even know how.” He could think of at least five instances off the top of his head where he’d somehow screwed up while trying to do what he thought was best. Right now was a perfect example; it only seemed he was making things worse.

“There are so many reasons why you shouldn’t want to be with me. I… damn it! I always feel like I’m not… good enough…” He gulped and words flew unhinged out of his mouth. “As a boyfriend… or with sex…” His whole face was turning red, but he hurried to explain himself. “I’m not as open minded or experienced as the other people you’ve been with. You’ve never complained but I know there are things you want to do that you haven’t because of me and you won’t tell me…” He took a deep breath and willed himself to continue. “You’ve even been physically hurt a few times because of me…” He buried his face in Akaya’s hair, willing him not to pull away from him.

Akaya sobbed against his shoulder and held his lover close, a little smile on his face. "Y-you idiot…" he said quietly, "I love you... and the sex is amazing dummy... I don't care if it's not crazy and insane---whips and chains or whatever---I've done it all and it's not all it's cracked up to be. I like what we have... and as for being hurt physically... I'll hit you a few more times and we'll be even, alright?" He laughed shakily and tightened his grip on his boyfriend.

Breathing in his boyfriend’s scent and holding him closer still, Hiyoshi forced himself to laugh at Akaya’s words so he wouldn’t start to tear up. He refused to cry in front of Akaya. At least he wasn’t sounding like they were going to separate now. “May I have some of the liquor you have stashed somewhere? I think I feel like dulling my senses a bit, too…”

"Yeah… I could use some more too..." Akaya chuckled a little then slowly got up to walk over to his closet to pull out a very large bottle of tequila and two glasses. He poured them each one and moved over to sit next to Hiyoshi. "Cheers."

If this had been any other time, Hiyoshi might have questioned the intelligence of letting Akaya drink more, but instead he just took the offered glass and clinked it against Akaya’s with a small sad smile. “Cheers” he repeated before downing whatever Akaya gave him in one swig and coughed. Damn, whatever the hell that was, it was strong.

Akaya chuckled a little and downed his as well with a relieved sigh. "Damn that's good..." he said happily and felt the heat return to his cheeks.

Hiyoshi found himself smiling back at Akaya’s grinning face. He had always stayed away from drinking too much, but right now he felt a painful need to make an exception. While Akaya was still there grinning at him, he took the bottle from him and quickly poured himself another glass or two, downing them, loving the feel of the burning liquid scorching down his throat. If Akaya got to be drunk and not worry for the rest of the night then so did he.

Akaya leaned against his boyfriend’s side and poured himself a refill as well, downing it just as fast. "Hey... I love you. I really, really do... and sex with you is awesome," he chuckled and slid his hand up his lover’s thigh.

Feeling warmer, Hiyoshi smiled easily now at his boyfriend against him, after drinking his last glass, he put it down and sank farther into the mattress and nuzzled Akaya’s neck. “I love you, too… more than anyone in this goddamn fucking world.” He was already starting to feel the effects, the acuteness of the pain he had felt earlier starting to ebb a little, but it wasn’t enough. Taking Akaya’s hand in his, he poured more of the drink into Akaya’s glass but then tilted it and drank it himself, then kissed the hand Akaya was holding the glass with.

Akaya smiled and giggled at the kiss. "You stole my booze..." He put the glass and the bottle down on the nightstand then lay back down to kiss Hiyoshi slowly and sensually.

Hiyoshi immediately succumbed to his boyfriend’s touch, letting out a contented sigh as he was kissed, all previous thoughts escaping as he let the fuzzies and his boyfriend have him. His hand clutched at Akaya’s shirt possessively and he shivered every time he could feel Akaya’s tongue on his.

All Akaya could think about or feel was his boyfriend and that was all he needed. He slid a hand under Hiyoshi’s shirt and deepened the kiss with a little purr of contentment. This was what he needed. It relaxed him and made him forget about everything that was slowly eating away at him for the moment.

“Akaya… Nn…” He was gone. Lost to the feel of his lover’s hands on him and all he could think about was how very wanted it was. He began to unsteadily unbutton his shirt, the room suddenly feeling overwhelmingly hot, while still focusing as much as possible on the expert lips reducing him to anything Akaya wanted him to be.

"Wakashi..." he purred quietly and looked at Hiyoshi with almost pleading eyes "Fuck me?" He couldn't completely forget the nagging feeling that was saying he was somehow forcing something onto Hiyoshi even though he knew it wasn't true. Maybe alcohol just made him more insecure?

Hiyoshi’s blood boiled at Akaya’s words and he groaned as he pulled away to look into Akaya’s pleading eyes; his own eyes were glazed from a mix of the tequila and Akaya. He knew it probably wasn’t a good idea right now to give into his lover’s request, but at the moment he didn’t have the mental capacity to figure out why. He would do anything, be anything Akaya wanted him to be. “Okay…”

Making quick work of both their clothes, not paying any heed if a button was discarded here or if a rip was heard there, Hiyoshi kissed his boyfriend hard as he laid him back on the bed. There was nothing gentle about the kiss, no grace or technique, just raw biting passion. It carried from Akaya’s lips to his jaw, over his neck and across his chest, down his abs and stomach. He grabbed Akaya’s arousal and stroked it in much the same way, the feel of that heat in his hands almost like a drug to him.

Akaya loved it, loved the aggressive way Hiyoshi would kiss him, touch him. It was perfect and just what he need right now. He needed to not be allowed to think, to be completely dominated and controlled. "H-harder—Wakashi!" he moaned and arched up on the mattress.

The desire to claim Akaya was strong and the alcohol in his system ensured he couldn’t hold himself back. He fisted Akaya’s erection in an even harder almost painful grip and his lips sought out Akaya’s again. Pushing their lips together, his other hand grabbed at Akaya’s dark curls and lifted his head up off the mattress to kiss him with a bruising intensity. He needed Akaya, needed to feel him surrounding him.

Akaya let out a desperate hungry moan as he nipped at Hiyoshi’s lip and wrapped his legs up around his lover’s hips, pulling him close and trying to tell him to hurry the hell up.

He knew what Akaya wanted, but there was also something he wanted. Almost desperately he wanted to feel Akaya’s warm hard weight on top of him, wanted Akaya to show him that he wanted him as much as he claimed. He wrenched his lips away and flipped them over so that Akaya was on top and moaned lustfully at the familiar weight and heat above him. He kissed his face lovingly and told him in a needy slur, “You want… me…’nside you, A-Akaya? Then… show me...”

"Show you, huh?" Akaya smirked and sat back, bringing one hand back to position Hiyoshi at his entrance. He couldn't be bothered to reach for the lubrication. Besides, he knew he could handle it without. "Nn… yes…" he pushed down onto his boyfriend’s erection slowly, relaxing his muscles and letting the other man slide into him.

Akaya looked too damn hot from this angle. He was sliding all the way into his tight, warm body, and all semblance of coherent thought was leaving him. All he could think about was how damn good it felt and he grabbed Akaya’s hips and rocked his hips up to meet him.

Groaning, Akaya started moving up and down, impaling himself slowly and sensually, to meet Hiyoshi’s movements. His eyes half lidded with a combination of pleasure and intoxication, he stared down at his boyfriend and slid his hands over the other man’s well-defined stomach.

“Nn…fuck! Ah… Aka-Akaya!” The noises he would usually contain were now set free, the alcohol in his system stealing his inhibitions. His eyes were completely glazed over with lust and need, and his body had a mind of its own as it sought to thrust itself even deeper into Akaya’s body. The low growling sounds only got louder and his thrusts became more insistent as Akaya continued to ride him.

If a groan didn't pop out every time Akaya opened his mouth he would have laughed, the sounds he'd always wanted to hear Hiyoshi let loose and make were coming in droves now and it left his head spinning--or maybe that was the alcohol--either way, he loved it.

Beyond all rational sober thought, Hiyoshi commanded in a deep harsh tone. "Touch yourself." He was more than tempted to do it himself, but he wanted to see it; he wanted to see Akaya’s hands on himself on top of him. His hands were already holding Akaya’s hips so firmly they were probably leaving bruises in the shape of his fingers. "Get yourself off, brat! …Mm… Let me see you."

He'd never heard anything that commanding come out of his lover’s mouth, especially not during sex, and immediately did as he was told. "W-wakashi..." Akaya purred and stroked himself firmly and in time with his rocking movements. If Hiyoshi wanted to watch, he'd give him a damn show. This was what he did best after all.

‘Oh, fuck…’ the sight Akaya made on top of him was almost too much for his clouded mind to handle. “Ah… Fucking brat! You’re too damn… Mn… Yeah... just like that…” His eyes were half lidded now as he watched Akaya’s sensual display. Words spilled out of his mouth that he didn’t recognize. His body was no longer listening to him, if it ever had been in the first place. His breathing was ragged and any moment now he was going to break.

Akaya clenched his muscles down around Hiyoshi expertly as he moved, squeezing him and pushing him closer to his climax and wanting more than anything to feel Hiyoshi fill him. Okay, so maybe being drunk made him a bit more slutty than normal, but it felt so damn good. Wakashi’s hard, burning cock inside him making him shiver and cry out at every thrust.

It was too much, and the next moment Hiyoshi was coming, coming hard and moaning his satisfaction loud and clear for the world to hear. The world went white but he kept his gaze on Akaya through it all, never taking his eyes off the amazing sight in front of him. If he’d had control of his limbs, he would have pulled him close and never let go.

All he could feel was the burn of Hiyoshi’s release inside of him and within moments his own was spilling over the other’s chest and abs with a loud cry of pleasure. His eyes held his boyfriend’s the whole time, brilliant green staring at him, filled with nothing but love and pleasure.

A soft smile overcame Hiyoshi’s features as he continued looking into Akaya’s eyes, not able to look away, and a hand reached up of its own accord to cup Akaya’s cheek. His body was completely relaxed, small tremors still racking his body making him let out small satisfied noises. “I love you… I really love you…” he whispered over and over again to Akaya as if it was a sacred mantra. He tried to stay awake, but his eyes were slowly closing, giving into the relaxed state pleasure and intoxication had put him in. The hand on Akaya’s cheek slowly went limp until it fell along with his consciousness.

Akaya watched him, smiling until that hand fell from his face. He then slowly lifted himself off Hiyoshi and stumbled to the shower to rinse off. He wasn't sure how long he stayed in there, but by the time he came out, he was having a lot easier time walking and his head was almost completely clear. When he came back, he dried his hair then walked over to wipe down Hiyoshi and move him under the sheets. He just stood there, looking at him for a moment, before climbing in next to him and cuddling up to his side. A few minutes later he was sound asleep.


	40. Chapter 40

Hiyoshi woke up with a pounding headache. A headache like this had only happened once before and he immediately searched his memory to see if he could remember the contents of the previous night.

He remembered going to the bar with Akaya and unexpectedly meeting up with Natsumi. Then he’d walked home with a drunken boyfriend who accused him of being in love with her… which had progressed into talking about… ugh. He winced. He could feel a shooting pain between his eyes. He had said some really embarrassing things and in the end had taken the easy route and gotten himself shitfaced along with Akaya so he didn’t have to think about it anymore. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. The events at the end were hazy at best and he groaned from both humiliation and for his aching head.

Peaking open his eyes with trepidation, wincing slightly as the light made contact, he let out a small sigh of relief when he found Akaya still there asleep next to him. The back of his head and unclothed back were facing him. With only a small amount of hesitation, he scooted forward and leaned his forehead against the back of Akaya’s neck trying to gain some peace and calm for his nerves from their closeness.

Akaya blinked awake when Hiyoshi snuggled against his back and he let out a low hateful groan at the sunlight streaming through the window. It had been a long time since he'd had a hangover, but damn this one was a doozy. He rolled over slowly to wrap his arms around Hiyoshi and nuzzled his nose into the other’s soft straight hair. "Mngh" he mumbled what was supposed to be 'morning'.

Reaching around him, Hiyoshi lightly ran his hand down Akaya’s back. He was still tired, his head was killing him, and he wanted nothing more than to just fall back into oblivion with Akaya, but now that he was awake and remembering the events of last night, his brain wouldn’t let him. He didn’t reply to Akaya’s mumble and just continued to stroke his back, lost in thought.

"Your head hurt, too?" Akaya mumbled quietly, not wanting to talk too loud because it made his head ring. He could remember everything that went on when he was drunk like always, but there were some fuzzy parts. One thing he could remember clearly however, "you talk a lot when you're drunk..."

The hand froze over Akaya’s back for a moment before continuing its slow glide over slightly tanned skin. What had he said? Damn it… “I feel like I got nailed by one of Choutarou’s serves.” He swallowed and tried to keep the nerves out of his voice, “…What did I say?”

"You said a lot when we were having sex..." he mumbled and closed his eyes. “It was kind of nice... You told me what you liked and what you wanted me to do..."

“Oh…” His head was already working too hard with all the thoughts running through it and fighting off the pain to blush, but it was still embarrassing. It could have been much worse. “I didn’t… hurt you or anything, did I?” He remembered Akaya being on top of him and the wonderful feeling of having him all around him, but he was uncomfortable with the fact he wasn’t sure how it exactly got to that point.

"Hmm... No. I can take it without prep." Akaya stretched lazily. "You don't remember much, do you?"

If he had trusted his eyes to open without killing him, he would have glared. Instead, Hiyoshi buried his face deeper in the crook of Akaya’s neck. “I remember… some of it…” When his jaw came in contact with Akaya’s skin, he winced in pain but didn’t pull away. He definitely remembered the prior events before he’d decided to drown himself in his boyfriend’s tequila. “About last night…”

"Just... Let's not think about it until we're doped up on some kind of pain killer." The Rikkai chibi-demon wasn't sorry about Hiyoshi’s jaw, but he did feel a little bad that his lover was in pain. When he thought about why he'd punched him though, he immediately didn't feel bad anymore.

“Alright...” Hiyoshi slowly and achingly pulled away from Akaya, feeling every muscle in his body protest. Without having to look in a mirror, he already knew he looked a mess. He must not have taken a shower afterward since he could still feel some of the stickiness on his body, and his usually straight and easy to maintain hair was sticking out in every direction.

Slowly sitting up and opening his eyes, wincing slightly as he did so, he took his first look down at Akaya and his breath caught in his throat. There were small bruises running all the way from his neck down his body, everywhere. There were even what looked to be hand shaped bruises around his waist and hips. This was certainly not the first time he’d left marks on his lover, but it was the first time he could remember seeing so many and so deep. As if in a trance, his hand came up and traced them as if by doing so he could either erase them or at least remember how they got there. “Sorry…”

Akaya blinked at the apology and looked down at where Hiyoshi’s hands were touching. He hadn't even felt the marks yet, though he knew exactly how he got each one, except that bruise on his thigh. Maybe that one was from tennis? He sat up slowly and smiled a little. "It's alright. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't have let you do it." Though the ones on his hips did ache a bit.

Hiyoshi’s lips turned up a bit. That was true. Akaya was more than capable of taking care of himself. Without a word, he got unsteadily to his feet, ignoring the pain in his head, and went over to get them both water and some pain killers.

Stayinh right where he was, Akaya waited patiently for the much needed pain killers. It was Hiyoshi’s fault his head felt like a truck ran over it, he could damn well get him something to take care of it.

Hiyoshi downed the water and painkillers then refilled the glass and brought Akaya his share. For some reason he was having trouble looking Akaya in the eyes as he did so. He didn’t feel particularly guilty for anything that happened last night..err..before the drinking, but he was wary all the same of saying something stupid before he was fully conscious. Like Akaya had requested, he wasn’t going to bring anything up again till he was ready. “I’m going to take a shower,” he said in a tired voice. He needed to shower, both to clean his body as well as straighten out his head.

Akaya took the glass and medicine with a murmured thank you then nodded, "Alright." He needed a shower too, but he would wait his turn. Maybe he'd go take one down the hall. He got up after swallowing the pills and went over to grab a towel and his other supplies then started for the door, not even bothering to wrap the towel around his waist.

Before Akaya made it out the door, Hiyoshi stopped him. “Uh… you have my…” He reached into Akaya’s shower basket and took out his body soap. Usually they took their showers together in the morning, but right now he needed to be by himself. He didn’t know why Akaya was going to the other showers when he could just wait for him, but he wasn’t going to question him on it. “Thanks.” He turned around and walked into their shared bathroom.

His ears perked up as Hiyoshi stopped him, but when he just reached over to take the soap, Akaya’s mood got worse and he just walked out the door, slamming it loudly behind himself. This day was going to suck, he could tell already.

Hiyoshi winced as he heard the door slam. What had he done wrong this time? Definitely not a good start to the day. Feeling his headache only getting worse, he turned the shower to scorching hot and stood underneath the spray hoping to burn all the unwanted thoughts away till he could think normally again.

Strolling naked down to the showers, Akaya took a cold fast shower, taking only long enough to clean himself off and wash his mess of hair, then immediately went back to the room and got dressed. He wanted to get out, to go on a walk or anything to help him not be tired and frustrated anymore. As much as the prospect of sunlight in his eyes hurt to think about, he grabbed his wallet and left to go get breakfast. Food always helped him think better.

Hiyoshi loved his showers because they gave him private time to think and reflect on what had happened. He realized that last night had been an outcome of Akaya’s insecurities. He’d even been accused of not loving Akaya anymore which was just ridiculous. How was it that they’d started off talking about Akaya but then somehow the conversation had been turned back to him? He’d even ended up spewing a bunch of useless nonsense that Akaya wouldn’t be able to help with even if he told him. This time it was going to be Akaya’s turn to talk.

He came back into the room feeling refreshed. His head wasn’t pounding quite so hard anymore and he was determined to make Akaya talk to him once he got back from the shower. Maybe they could go out and have a nice breakfast together afterward and forget all about this. There was only one problem. His boyfriend wasn’t there and his wallet was gone. Where the hell did he go?


	41. Chapter 41

After Akaya had left yesterday morning, Hiyoshi had spent almost half the day searching for him, even ended up going to Sanada, but when Akaya was determined to not be found, there was no helping it. Besides, he couldn’t spend the whole day looking for his lost boyfriend when he had other responsibilities he had to attend to. He had two classes, fraternity duties, and Natsumi was only going to be there two more days.

Throughout the day he’d calmed down from his anger at Akaya for leaving him like and hoped he would at least be home by the time he got back that night. It had still been fairly early when he finally made it back to their room. He had made it a point to be back in case Akaya came home.

When he’d seen his boyfriend lying on their bed asleep, the sense of relief had been so powerful that almost all his leftover anger had seemed to wash away. He’d leaned over to kiss his sleeping brat’s forehead, hoping the small contact would wake him as it usually did so they could calmly talk about what happened and move on.

However, before his lips brushed skin, the heavy scent of alcohol had assaulted his senses. Akaya had been drinking again. Looking at him, and knowing his brat as well as he did, it had been obvious to see that he hadn’t just laid down to take a nap. He had passed out.

Anger and resentment immediately swarmed back and poisoned all of his thoughts. How dare Akaya get himself drunk again! Didn’t he know that his boyfriend had worried about him all fucking day?! Didn’t he care at all? He refused to try talking to Akaya when he was like this again and was so angry he was worried about doing or saying something he would regret. The only option left to him was to leave, so he did.

Now he was back in their room again the next day. Once again the room was short a brat and he didn’t know what to do at this point. He had barely slept and missed one of his classes that day, not wanting to leave in case Akaya came home. He was still angry, but there were so many other emotions mixed with it that he wasn’t sure what he felt anymore. He was exhausted and felt so pathetically weak that it disgusted him, but was determined to wait until Akaya got back.

It had officially been the crappiest week he'd had in years and Akaya knew that a lot of it was his own fault, but his boyfriend and his fiancé hadn't helped at all and had started it in the first place. When he'd been out trying to clear his head he'd run into some friends who wanted to buy him a few drinks for his upcoming birthday. He'd said no at first but then gave in to the peer pressure and went with them.

He'd wanted to call his boyfriend to let him know what was going on, but like the stubborn idiot he was, he'd left his phone and well--he didn't know anyone's number if he didn't have his phone. Despite that little fukubuchou voice in his head, he drank more than he normally did because they just kept buying him drinks, and when he finally escaped, he was three sheets to the wind. He'd come home and passed out, hoping to sleep it all off before his birthday.

When he woke up, he was miraculously hangover free -- a birthday miracle -- and was so excited to snuggle up to Hiyoshi and hear his boyfriend be the first to wish him a happy birthday. He'd hoped that they could save all the serious talks for later and just enjoy the day, but when he found the bed empty, his heart had twisted and he'd had to fight not to cry. He had composed himself, got up and went about his Friday routine. He wasn't going to class on his birthday, so instead he went out to get food and then hung around his room playing video games and talking to his family on the phone.

In the mid-afternoon, Sanada and Renji had come by and he'd gone out with them in an effort to keep himself from going crazy by being alone in his room on his birthday. On the way home he'd stopped to pick up his Gundam head cake that Marui made him before boxing them up and bringing them back to his room to put in the mini-fridge. If he'd left it in the shared fridge they'd be gone by sunset.

When he opened the door to his room, he saw Hiyoshi sitting on their bed and his heart clenched again. He redirected his eyes and walked in to kick off his shoes and start toward the fridge. Was it too late to run?

Hiyoshi’s head shot up when he heard the door open and Akaya walked in. It felt like he’d been waiting an eternity, but now that he was actually here, he had no idea what he should do. Yell? Hold him? Tell him how angry he was? Tell him he loved him? As Akaya walked over to the fridge completely ignoring him, his heart clenched painfully in his chest, “Akaya…”

"...Sorry..." he mumbled and put his sweets away, "I shouldn't have left my phone here," he said before righting himself and grabbing out a soda to drink. He opened it and moved to sit down on the edge of the bed, but gave Hiyoshi some space. He wanted his boyfriend to say 'Happy birthday!' or 'sorry for forgetting, what can I do to make it up to you' but instead all he got was silence and his muttered name, wonderful.

The brat didn’t sound sorry at all and he wasn’t even apologizing for the right problem. The emotional weakness Hiyoshi had just been feeling was swept away, bringing the anger back to the forefront. “Is that all you’re going to apologize for?” He bowed his head so he wouldn’t have to look right at him and his voice was low, trying to hide how angry he really was. “Is that all you’re going to apologize for? Leaving your fucking cell phone?” He could care less about the phone, Akaya was almost impossible to get a hold of that way anyway. He wanted Akaya to apologize for leaving, for making him worry, for making him feel like this.

"What about you?" Akaya snapped, immediately getting defensive. He'd never taken to being cornered well, "Don't you have anything to apologize for? Anything to say to me?"

Jumping to his feet, Hiyoshi had to force himself not to walk straight up to Akaya and shake him. “What else do I have to say? How many times do I have to apologize to you for not telling you about Natsumi? How many times do I have to bare my soul to you and tell you I love you? Do you want me to beg? Do you want me to get down on my fucking knees and beg for your forgiveness? Well it’s not going to fucking happen! Not even for you!” He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t take this and he refused to let his temper get the better of him and do something he would regret. He furiously marched over to his closet to pull out an overnight bag and started untidily tossing things into it.

"That's not---" Akaya stared at what Hiyoshi was doing and clenched his hand into a fist on the bed, the other nearly crushing the can he was holding until he put it on the nightstand. "That's not even what I was talking about..." he mumbled and hung his head, tears already running down his face from Hiyoshi yelling, "I wasn't talking about the Saitou-chan thing at all..."

Hiyoshi had been holding his anger in for way too long, it was pouring out in waves and he couldn’t stop it. Akaya’s words only managed to enflame him even more. He whirled around and despite the tears on Akaya’s face continued vehemently with real rage burning in his eyes. “Great. So what else have I done then that I need to apologize for? What other terrible thing have I done that made you leave me without saying a word? Making me worry like a damn mother for hours only to find you passed out. I must be a pretty shitty person let alone boyfriend if you have to drink yourself out cold two days in a row to avoid talking to me. Please, tell me.”

Akaya didn't even want to argue anymore, instead he just rubbed at his eyes and sobbed quietly, "I-it's the 25th of September..." How could his boyfriend not know? He was sure he'd told him before. Did he just not care?

“Yes, …and?” What the hell did today’s date have to do with anything? Was this some kind of trick to get him to calm down? It wasn’t working.

"It's my birthday..." the sobbing demon murmured and pulled his knees up to his chest to curl into a little ball.

Hiyoshi barely caught the words, but when he did, everything in him froze. After a moment, his eyes widened and he turned around so he wasn’t facing Akaya any more. He knocked his head a couple times against the closet door in anger, whether at himself or Akaya, he didn’t know. “Why… why didn’t you tell me?”

"I... I've told you before... I thought you knew..." he mumbled, clutching tightly at his legs.

“No… you haven’t.” Damn it… This wasn’t his fault. He had no idea… “I wouldn’t… forget something like that. I wouldn’t… You thought I forgot.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. An ugly sentence, laced with resentment and misery.

"Yeah..." he murmured again and looked up at Hiyoshi with watery red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks, "I wanted us to go have fun today and just forget about the stupid what's-her-name stuff."

Hiyoshi turned around to face him again. He couldn’t stand Akaya’s tears, they tore him up inside and made him yearn for the smile that always made him return it. But his brain wasn’t able to bypass the subject. “You honestly think I would forget your birthday if I knew when it was? You left me, made me feel… made me think…” He didn’t want to finish that. He started to move forward, finally feeling calm enough to come closer to Akaya, but a small wave of dizziness overtook him and he stumbled slightly, so leaned back against the closet instead. He didn’t want Akaya to see how weak and messed up he was.

Akaya’s eyes went wide as Hiyoshi stumbled and he quickly got up to touch his boyfriend’s cheek, "Oi---a-are you alright?"

The touch to his cheek made him close his eyes and automatically lean into it. He couldn’t help it. Akaya’s touch, no matter how upset he was, always made him feel warm and broke down his barriers. “I’m mad at you…”

"I know..." Akaya finally smiled a little and kissed him gently. "I'm sorry, Wakashi... I'm so sorry..." he murmured and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend before burying his face against his shoulder.

Hiyoshi’s arms dangled at his sides, too stubborn to hold Akaya back when he was this wound up, but he turned his head and buried into black curls. He could feel Akaya’s tears soaking through his shirt and sighed. “Why did you leave without saying anything?” It was one of the worst things Akaya could have done. He couldn’t stand being left, being avoided like that. Akaya knew about his insecurities better than anyone, he should have known that.

"I just... got frustrated... and then people wanted to take me out for drinks and I wanted to call you but I didn't have my phone--and..." He held him tightly, "I'm sorry, Wakashi…"

At that moment Hiyoshi realized that no amount of explanation was going to make him feel better right now. He just needed to decide what he was going to do. Slowly, his arms came up to hold Akaya back loosely, and he kissed the side of his head. “Happy Birthday, brat. I’m sorry I haven’t made the day very memorable.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I love you.”

Akaya started sobbing against his shoulder and gripped at Hiyoshi tightly, feeling horrible and like one of the worst people on the planet. "I love you too... I'm so sorry..."

God, he hated it when his brat cried. Bringing a hand up to Akaya’s hair, he combed through it in that familiar way for a moment before gently pulling him back and making him look at him. His other hand cupped Akaya’s cheek and wiped his tears with his thumb. “Please stop crying… I can’t stand seeing you cry.”

"I…" he sniffed "I can't...” he murmured and looked at Hiyoshi through the tears. “J-just hold me..." he mumbled, "Please... I'll stop soon..." he whispered and kept his hands latched onto Hiyoshi’s shirt, "I'm sorry for being stupid."

No request had ever been so completely wanted. Hiyoshi pulled Akaya back against him, tucking him into his arms as best he could. “I guess we’re both pretty good at that,” he whispered back, the weight of his boyfriend in his arms both comforting and relieving. He was still upset, but was resolved to once again push everything to the back of his mind. It was a good thing he was still leaning against the closet; otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to support Akaya’s weight right then.

After a couple minutes, Akaya finally got a hold of himself. All of the frustration and irritation he'd built up over the past week was finally out and he took a deep breath. "You haven't eaten, have you?" He said with a little sigh and pulled back just enough to wipe at his eyes and look at Hiyoshi with a small smile. "Come on, let’s go get food."

Now that Akaya mentioned it, Hiyoshi realized he hadn’t eaten since before they’d gone to the bar day before yesterday. Natsumi may have forced something down at one point but he couldn’t remember. He really didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay here and wallow in self-pity for a while and maybe throw some shuriken at the walls… but it was Akaya’s birthday and he couldn’t make any more mistakes. “Okay…”

Akaya looked at him for a moment then smiled again. "How about we just get delivery instead?" He cupped Hiyoshi’s face then ran his hand down his lover’s chest, "After we can have some of my cake or something."

A hint of a smile pulled at Hiyoshi’s lips for the first time in two days. He felt a little guilty that Akaya must have noticed something and was obviously offering for his sake, but he wasn’t going to refuse. “Thank you… That would be preferred.” He slid from the closet and away from Akaya in order to make his way over to the bed, concentrating on his steps so he wouldn’t show any weakness in his stature. Once he sat down, he added, “Just order whatever you want… or if you have other plans for your Birthday, go ahead. …I’ll be here when you get back.”

"I think a few of us are going out later... but I don't mind staying in if you want me to," Akaya sat down next to him with his cell phone out and leaned against Hiyoshi’s side, "or maybe after a nap and some food you can come out with us."

Going out later generally involved going to a bar, which he had no intention of doing ever again, not after what happened. The mushroom-headed boy had thought that many times before, but after this time he meant it. But he wouldn’t deprive Akaya of it, especially on his birthday. It made him tense for a second when he realized Akaya had told other people about his birthday and even made some plans, but had forgotten to tell him. “I’m not going out.” He said with finality in his voice. “But you should go with your friends.”

Akaya knew that tone and he knew the argument was already lost. He nodded then picked up his cell phone to order a ridiculous amount of Chinese food so he would have breakfast, lunch, and diner for the next few days. "They should be here in about half an hour," he said as soon as he hung up. "You uh… You wanna help me eat some of my gundam head?" He nodded toward the fridge and watched Hiyoshi out of the corner of his eye.

He’d been zoning out while Akaya had placed the order but focused again when he was addressed directly. Gundam Head? “…You’re going to eat a gundam Head?” He raised an eyebrow and looked at his boyfriend like he was crazy, which he was, so there shouldn’t have been any surprise there.

Akaya smiled and pointed to the fridge. "Marui-senpai made me a gundam head out of cake."

That’s right. It was his brat’s birthday. He should have gotten him a present. Shit, he’d really fucked this up, even if it wasn’t completely his fault. Even if he had stopped crying, there were still tear stains on Akaya’s cheeks, but at least some of the puffiness had started to subside. He reached up and slowly slid a hand over Akaya’s cheek again. “You’re such a brat,” the corners of his lips turned up again and he tried to keep the sadness out of his smile. “What do you want me to get you for your birthday?”

Akaya just shook his head and smiled; eyes bright and honest despite the redness around them. "You don't have to get me anything. I already have what I want." While that may have been the cheesiest thing he'd ever said, he meant it, and showed that by leaning in to kiss Hiyoshi slowly.

The anger and stress was finally depleting, only leaving a dull ache of sadness behind, but Akaya’s kiss even pushed that to the back of his mind. Hiyoshi let himself fall entirely into Akaya, every part of his body giving into the other except for his hands which held onto Akaya’s shirt with an iron tight grip. His lips followed his every movement and a small whimper escaped his lips.

Akaya wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi and slowly pulled his boyfriend over to straddle him so he could hold him closer. "I love you..." he murmured quietly against his boyfriend’s lips, his big green eyes fixed on his lover.

Hiyoshi’s eyes were half lidded as he was positioned over his boyfriend, sighing in contentment when their bodies came together even closer. Their shared breath made his heart speed up. “I love you too…” His hands moved to cup Akaya’s face and brought his lips firmly against his again. He hated himself for it, but he needed Akaya to be the one in control right now.

Akaya made a little noise of satisfaction and smiled into the kiss. He could feel Hiyoshi leaning on him emotionally and it didn't bother him at all. He liked being the strong one sometimes. It felt good to be relied on like that.

Becoming a little lightheaded, whether from the kiss or his body’s current state, Hiyoshi was forced to pull away. He instead buried his face into Akaya’s neck, slightly clinging to his love’s mess of hair.

"Hey...." Akaya said quietly and rubbed Hiyoshi’s back, "Why don't you take a nap until the food gets here? I promise I'll be here when you wake up." He kissed Hiyoshi’s shoulder.

“Mm-hmm…” The sleepy martial artist mumbled in agreement, already half asleep on Akaya’s shoulder, and tried to nestle in even closer. Unlike his boyfriend, a good amount of sleep was necessary for him to continue functioning properly, and not getting much sleep the previous night plus all the emotional stress did not help. But he was already quite content where he was and wasn’t going to move of his own volition.

Akaya smiled and pulled down the blankets with one hand before turning and laying Hiyoshi down. "Get some sleep, Wakashi." He kissed him lightly then pulled the blanket over him.

Even half asleep, his hand still shot out to grab Akaya’s wrist. “If you’re not here when I wake up, I’ll nev—kick your ass.” He was about to say he would never forgive him, but he didn’t want to sound that dependent on him. With that, he finally let his fatigue win over and fell into an exhausted sleep.

Akaya smiled and kissed his forehead. "I'll be right here, I swear it," he murmured, then got up to get his DS and started playing one of the games he'd gotten for his birthday. He felt a lot better after having cried so much and his chest felt lighter. He was more positive than he'd been the past week and it was a good feeling. He glanced over at Hiyoshi and smiled a little. "Happy birthday to me," he murmured sing-song-ingly under his breath and turned back to his game.


	42. Chapter 42

Natsumi was leaving. Hiyoshi wasn’t particularly happy about it since he would miss his friend, but at the same time was relieved. Though he was sad to see her go, hopefully things with Akaya would finally go back to normal now. His boyfriend was currently standing beside him on the sidewalk in front of their dorm as they both saw her off in a taxi to the airport. She had insisted that he didn’t have to go with her though he knew his father would be more than a little angry if he found out.

Natsumi turned towards them while the taxi driver was putting her luggage into the trunk. “Thanks for keeping me entertained while I was here.” She walked over to Hiyoshi and wrapped her arms around him in a friendly goodbye hug, “Sorry it wasn’t exactly planned, but I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen next time.” She leaned in a little closer to his ear and whispered for his ears only, “and sorry for everything else.”

Hiyoshi hugged her back around the waist and squeezed her lightly before releasing her. “You’re welcome back anytime,” he said politely and meaning it. Although he definitely agreed it would be much better if he was given some notice first.

The girl was very happy Wakashi seemed to be feeling better today. He had been so depressed the day before yesterday that it’d worried her, but now it looked as though Kirihara had somehow magically fixed it. She needed to somehow thank him.

“May I speak to you for a moment, Kirihara-san?” She motioned for him to follow her a little ways away from Wakashi. She thought her friend might stop her, but all he did was raise an eyebrow and cross his arms over his chest grumpily. She just gave him a mischievous smile then turned to Kirihara. She couldn’t very well leave without doing something to piss off her favorite childhood friend, could she?

"Oh uh... sure..." Akaya let himself be led over, casting one last glance at Hiyoshi. "What is it?" he asked curiously, looking at the girl who'd caused so much stress and agony for them over the past two weeks.

“I just wanted to say thank you, for taking care of Wakashi I mean. It’s obvious how much he really cares about you.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a small picture book she carried around of her friends and family. “I heard it was your birthday yesterday, so here’s a little present from me. It’s one of the very few that exist so you better take care of it.” So saying, she took out a very small picture of a very small young and innocent looking Hiyoshi Wakashi. In the picture he was around four or five years old, in a martial arts gi, holding a small child’s practice weapon.

Akaya blinked and took the picture before his face turned a light shade of red. "W-wow!!! Thank you Saitou-chan!!" he said happily and opened his wallet to put the picture in it. "I'll take really good care of it! I promise!" He smiled wide at her, looking positively devious.

“Just don’t tell Wakashi about it, or he might murder both of us.” She giggled and rolled her eyes to show that she was joking. “I’m really sorry for all the problems my being here has caused you two. It must have been hard for you having to share his time with his fiancé and ex. Don’t worry, I’m sure Wakashi would never hurt you on purpose.” She gave him a small wink then turned to walk back to the taxi and a nervous looking Wakashi.

"Yeah I won't--" The mop-headed boy started happily and was about to dismiss Natsumi's apology when what she said stopped him dead in his tracks. Ex? She... was his ex? He swallowed hard and his arms fell to his sides as he watched Natsumi go back over to the taxi. Well... fuck.

“What did you say to him?” Hiyoshi asked uncertainly when she came back over. Akaya was still standing where she left him, looking a bit frozen.

Natsumi laughed as she responded. “Don’t worry. He’s probably just thinking about the present I gave him.” She hugged him one last time and winked. “Take care of yourself, okay?” Giving one last final wave to Kirihara-san, she got into the waiting taxi.

Hiyoshi didn’t trust that wink but just sighed and shook his head, watching as the taxi pulled away from the curb and drive off. Once it had turned the corner, he looked over at Akaya and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"She's... your ex?" Akaya said quietly and kept his eyes off of his boyfriend. How many more things did Hiyoshi hide from him? He gripped his wallet tightly, mindful of the picture in it.

“Huh?” Hiyoshi was taken back for a moment, not sure what to say to the sudden question. “Well… I guess she is, but I’ve never really thought of it like that.” Where had that come from? “Why?”

Akaya took a deep breath and smiled. "It's nothing, let's go home," he said and walked over to him. He took his hand and smirked, hiding his frustration and hurt very well, he'd gotten used to it recently. "I gotta show you the present Saitou-chan got me."

“I don’t think I want to know…” The mushroom-headed boy said dubiously, but let Akaya lead him back to their room.

As they walked in, Akaya flipped open his wallet and showed off his new picture with a big grin. "You were so cute, what happened to you?" He stuck his tongue out for a moment then quickly pulled it back in when he remembered what Yanagi-senpai had said about his face freezing like Sanada's.

Hiyoshi’s eye’s bulged out and he made a grab for the picture. “Give me that! I can’t believe she…” he didn’t finish the sentence since he was too busy chasing after Akaya’s wallet.

Akaya kept the picture out of Hiyoshi’s grip with a big grin on his face. "No way, Wakashi. This is mine."

“Technically, it’s mine. She stole that from my house years ago,” Hiyoshi snarled, backing Akaya up until he fell into one of the desk chairs then basically crawled on top of him still trying to get to the picture.

Akaya held the picture as far away from him as possible. "Well finders keepers, Wakashi. And she gave it to me. So, ha!" He put his other hand on Hiyoshi’s hip, not at all minding where his boyfriend was sitting.

Hiyoshi glared at him and almost pouted, almost. “I’m gonna kill her one of these days.” He sulked, finally letting his hand drop. “If you ever show that to anyone, I’ll include you in that, too.”

"You couldn't kill me." Okay, he could kill him, but he wouldn't kill him... right?

“Yes, I could,” the martial artist said seriously and leaned forward with a malicious smirk on his face. “So you better start behaving, brat.”

"You wouldn't though, you love me," the chibi demon said with a little nervous quiver in his voice.

“You’re right.” Hiyoshi hadn’t missed the uneasy sound in Akaya’s voice. He kissed his forehead then trailed his lips down to kiss the tip of his nose. “I doubt I would last long without you anyway.” If Akaya needed more reassurance, he would give it to him.

"Good." Satisfied, Akaya smiled and held Hiyoshi close, kissing him lightly before murmuring, "You're still not getting the picture back." He smirked. He was sooooo going to show the picture to Gakuto.

Hiyoshi sighed, giving up on it for now. He knew where and when the other boy slept. “So is there anything else that Natsumi gave you or said to you I should know about before flying after her to kill her?”

This picture was definitely going to be put in a safe place that locked. Maybe one of the boxes he had that didn't have a key anymore since he could just pick the lock anytime he wanted. "No... I uh... I just didn't know you were exes. What did you uh--what did you guys do together? How long did you date?"

Yup, she hadn’t been gone an hour and he already definitely needed to go kill her. “I wouldn’t even say we were dating… we just…” Hiyoshi sighed. “It was at the beginning of high school when I was trying to come to terms with my feelings for Choutarou and accepting that I might… you know… and do you really want to hear about this?” He gave him a pleading look, desperately hoping Akaya would get the hint and not make him talk about it.

Akaya watched him carefully, the teasing child facade gone and replaced by a look of concerned seriousness. "Yeah, Wakashi, I really do..." He said honestly and watched him with curious green eyes.

Shit. He really didn’t want to talk about this, but he couldn’t very well lie or keep the information his boyfriend seemed to want so much away from him. He wasn’t willing to chance losing him because he was stupid enough to make the same mistake twice. Wearily, he asked, “Why do you want to know so badly? It’s in the past and doesn’t matter anymore.”

"Because I want to know," Akaya said simply and watched Hiyoshi. Part of him needed to know. He needed to know Hiyoshi trusted him enough to tell him important things when it wasn't necessary.

Hiyoshi leaned in to rest his forehead against Akaya’s for a moment, looking him in the eyes, before getting up from his position on Akaya’s lap. “Okay… but don’t think too badly of me afterwards, and after this I don’t want to have to talk about it ever again, understood?” he went to lie down on their bed, patting the open space next to him for his boyfriend to follow.

Akaya got up slowly, progressively getting more worried as he walked over to lie down next to Hiyoshi. What the hell could be so bad that Hiyoshi was this reluctant to talk about it?

Hiyoshi was on his back with hands behind his head staring up at the ceiling as he started talking in a resigned tone. “I was basically in denial over my feelings for Choutarou. I didn’t want to be… like that and thought maybe if I just gave girls a chance then maybe… shit. It sounds really stupid when you say it like that…” This was hard. He wasn’t used to talking about his past with people. Especially situations he was embarrassed about and had tried for years to block out.

Akaya lay on his side and watched Hiyoshi carefully, soaking up the story like a child being told a bed time story, having decided to not comment until Hiyoshi was done talking.

“My family and Natsumi’s have been good friends for a long time. After they moved to Singapore our families still kept in close contact. The summer after my freshmen year in high school, I wanted to get away for a little while and ended up staying with them for almost two months. Natsumi and I had always been friends, but… I guess you could say I was desperate and confused and she was just curious. We were comfortable with each other, which is rare for me.” It was very rare actually. There were very few people whom he could stand in his private space. “You could say we dated, but all we did was hang out like usual with the addition of her forcing me to hold her hand whenever she felt like it.” He smiled a little fondly as he got a bit caught up in those memories, not all of them having been so bad.

“One night we were left alone in the house. We hadn’t planned on anything happening. Hell, we never even kissed, but we were young, curious, stupid, …and probably both nervous. One thing led to another...” Damn this was uncomfortable. “It was very awkward and we were lucky we didn’t get caught or anything worse happened…” He didn’t think he needed to say that it didn’t go over well nor had they talked much about the repercussions. “…If we had, we’d already be married.” He chuckled humorlessly at the thought. “I think I hurt her. Neither of us knew what we were doing, but neither of us said anything. It was just…” he didn’t know what to say. He would always feel guilty about what happened. “Anyway, after that night things were really awkward between us and I came back to Japan even more upset and depressed than before. End of story.”

Akaya was speechless. Not only had they dated before, but they'd slept together? He thought he was the first. He didn't know what to think anymore and he just closed his eyes and tried to keep himself from saying anything he didn't mean or storming out even though everything in him was telling him to. He rolled over and opened his eyes to stare at the wall, trying to make it burst into flames with his glare alone.

Akaya turning away from him made all the worries he’d harbored but had tried to push away come back to the forefront. What did he think of him now? This was why he didn’t tell him these things. Back when they had first slept together, he had accidentally hinted about this and knew he would probably tell him about it eventually, but now he wished he hadn’t. “…what are you thinking?”

Akaya rolled back over and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi, hiding his face against him. "Just... wishing you'd told me sooner... ya know?" he mumbled and let out a quiet sigh. Hiyoshi’s smell always had a way of calming him down.

Hiyoshi held him back tightly against him. “I honestly didn’t think it was worth telling. It’s something I regret and wish I could forget,” which was basically what him a Natsumi had both tried to do. “You once told me that all the other people you’ve slept with didn’t matter… What Natsumi and I did… was entirely for all the wrong reasons. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only person I’ve ever made love to.” He had never called it that before, but when it came to Akaya, that’s what it was to him. He could only hope that Akaya wouldn’t look down on him now for a stupid mistake he’d made years ago, though a small bitter voice nagged at him that the other boy had no right to talk if he did.

Akaya smiled a little and kissed him warmly. His lover was right, the past didn't matter. If that was what Hiyoshi thought then who was he to complain? "I love you, Wakashi..." he purred against the other’s lips and held onto him tightly.

“I love you, too. Don’t you dare ever think that I don’t.” Burying a hand in his tangled webs of hair, Hiyoshi closed his eyes and softly moved his lips over Akaya’s, letting himself indulge. He closed his eyes contentedly, breathing in Akaya’s scent and letting the intoxicating taste of his lips and the heat of his breath take over all his senses so he could block out everything else.

The familiar kiss eased out the tension of the past couple weeks and suddenly everything with Natsumi didn't seem so important anymore. Hiyoshi was his; he'd always be his, no matter how frustrating his mushroom was. He loved him and that would never change.


	43. Chapter 43

How had he been talked into this? Hiyoshi Wakashi was currently with his boyfriend, Kirihara Akaya, walking hand in hand down the street where Akaya’s family lived. Hiyoshi told himself that was the only reason he was letting Akaya get away with holding his hand in public. Everyone who lived around there was probably already well aware of the curly-haired menace.

Akaya had been called home for the weekend by his parents in order to take their yearly family photos. Hiyoshi had felt no need to go and had tried almost every excuse he could think of to get out of this family visit, but Akaya wouldn’t hear any of it. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Akaya’s family, he did, a lot, it had just been a rough couple of weeks and would have been nice to relax over the weekend.

“Are you sure it's okay for me to come with you? And don't say yes just because you want me there.”

“Of course it is. Mom and Dad want you in the picture. I talked to 'em last night.”

Hiyoshi stopped mid-step in the middle of the street and glared. “You never said anything about being in any pictures... “

Akaya just continued on as if it were no big deal. “I just found out last night. Besides, it's not gonna kill ya.”

“Aren't you supposed to be taking “family” pictures? The last I checked, I wasn't a Kirihara.”

The damn brat just smiled at him. “You're close enough. Just come on, it'll be funny. If nothing else, my sister always bitches cause they make her cover up and wear itchy sweaters.”

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at the answer, wanting to know what ‘close enough’ meant. In the end, he kept silent and allowed his feet to continue forward toward the house. Once they arrived, Akaya dragged him into with a loud cry of “We're home!!” Which was quickly followed by…

“NO ONE CARES!” his sister.

“GO TO HELL!” That was Akaya again.

“Welcome home, boys!” Finally, someone relatively sane. Relatively. Truth be told, Hiyoshi rather liked Akaya’s mother. Though their first encounter over spring vacation a couple months back had left him with mental scars, since their anniversary when he’d called to ask about foods Akaya liked, he’d somehow ended up talking to her on the phone on a regular basis. She liked calling him. He wondered vaguely if by now he’d talked to this woman more in the last few months than his own mother his whole life.

Coming around the corner, Akaya’s mom enveloped them both in a big welcoming hug. He allowed a small smile to form at the motherly embrace. That was another thing he’d have to get used to.

“Thank you for inviting me to your home again, Kirihara-san. Sorry to intrude on a family event.”

“Oh stop, you're part of the family, too. Haven’t I told you to call me Momma? or Yuzuka-chan if you'd like. None of that Kirihara-san nonsense.” She smiled sweetly at him in an all too familiar way.

The boy from a very traditional household was used to being told that by now, but old habits died hard and it still weirded him out to call anyone "momma" or call an older woman "chan", but this was one woman he didn't want to cross. “Sorry, and thank you... Momma.”

“You're so cute!” Momma said while practically glowing and hugged onto him again. He looked to Akaya for help.

“Yes, yes, mom he gets it.” Akaya was somehow able to pry his mother off him and got smacked upside the head for it. It was one those times he truly loved and appreciated his boyfriend.

“Now come on, I made you two snacks and after you eat you can go upstairs and change, I already laid out two outfits for each of you.”

“For… each?” He could feel a migraine coming on. He’d honestly thought and hoped he could still manage to get out of this somehow. Trying to be as polite as possible, he protested delicately, “Momma… I mean no disrespect, and I appreciate your generosity, but wouldn't it be slightly inappropriate for me to be in your family pictures?”

“Why would you say that?” The woman was all smiles. “You're part of the family, Wakashi.”

“Told you.” Akaya added unhelpfully. Hiyoshi glared at him while still addressing Kirihara-san.

“It means a great deal to me for you to consider me as such, but I still believe I should respectfully decline.” He bowed politely, hoping that would be the end of it. “I'll make sure Akaya is ready.” He grabbed Akaya's arm and started pulling him toward the snack table before anyone could object, however, the sound of sniffling made him stop in his tracks. He turned around with a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Wakashi dear... don't you want to be part of our family?” The woman was looking at him with that trademark Kirihara puppy dog look which always made him feel like a terrible person. Damn it… he hated those eyes. “I... you know... I'm honored to uhh...” he rambled, trying to figure out the politest and most sincere way to handle this.

The eyes on him didn’t falter and it didn’t help matters at all when Akaya decided to join her. The twin looks he was receiving were nearly identical, minus the color of their eyes, Kiriahara-san with her dark brown eyes and Akaya with his brilliant green ones.

Looking back and fourth between the two of them, he could have sworn he physically felt something inside him crumble. Shifted uncomfortably, he answered dismally, “Fine…”

Both looks turned into matching grins and he threw his hands up in defeat. “Alright! I said fine!” Crossing his arms grumpily, he changed directions and marched up the stairs to Akaya’s room, needing to get away from not one but TWO people who were waaaaay too good at getting what they wanted from him.

As he entered Akaya’s room, he immediately noticed the previously mentioned outfits hanging together nicely by the door and he took a minute to glare at them. A moment later, Akaya came in with a tray of treats.

“Hey... I brought the snacks.” The way Akaya said that, with a cautious yet mischievous tone in his voice and a smile on his face, tt was ridiculously endearing. He knew he couldn’t stay irritated even if he wanted to.

Suddenly feeling the urge to kiss him, he took the tray of snacks from him and placed it on the nearby chest of drawers. Grabbing his brat’s arm, he pushed him backwards, relocating him down onto the bed so he could kiss him to his heart’s content. Of course, Akaya didn’t seem to have any complaints if the small gasp and giggles were any indication. Soon, Akaya was kissing him back and they were smiling against each other’s lips. He had no idea how Akaya made him feel this way. How he could be so irritated one moment then the next so… content.

“I love you,” Akaya said, wrapping his arms around Hiyoshi’s shoulders and kissing him again, “And I’m glad you came.”

“Me, too.”

He kissed him one last time before retracting himself, helping Akaya to sit up as well and got the snacks. They hadn’t had lunch yet and he knew if his brat didn’t eat soon, he would be grumpy.

Once situated comfortably on the bed, he held out a small sandwich square for his boyfriend. With a happy grin, Akaya leaned forward and took the sandwich square from him with his mouth making him smirk. He ate one himself before holding out another.

That sat like that for a while, Akaya happily munching, apparently enjoying being fed while Hiyoshi chuckled, enjoying the moment. He felt Akaya’s lips and tongue on his fingers now and then and every once in a while took a bite himself.

Hiyoshi looked fondly at him with an amused expression when Akaya seemed to have decided he’d had enough mini sandwiches and took one of Hiyoshi’s fingers into his mouth instead, sucking on it gently.

“I'm gonna need that back, brat...” The only response he got was a grin as Akaya continued licking around a finger teasingly.

With not much success, he tried to hold back a small shiver. “Damn brat…” He took his now wet finger out of Akaya’s mouth and trailed it down the side of Akaya’s face. “We're in your parent’s house.” Despite saying so, Hiyoshi replaced the finger in Akaya’s mouth with his tongue, sucking greedily at him. Akaya moaned against him and was kissing him back hungrily. Obviously he didn’t care where they were one bit.

Pulling him into his lap so Akaya’s legs were on either side of him, Hiyoshi ran his hands down and under Akaya’s shirt so he could feel the skin of his back and hummed in appreciation at the contact. He let out a small groan when he felt Akaya’s hands playing and shifting through his hair.

He didn’t know if he pushed or Akaya pulled, but soon they were again lying on the bed with Akaya pressed firmly into the mattress underneath him, completely forgetting about time and place. Akaya’s moans and purrs vibrated through his whole body and legs wrapped around his hips trying to pull him even closer. Hiyoshi’s hips started a small rocking motion which resulted in more delicious sounds and reciprocated movements, and after another minute, he was forced to pull away for a quick breath. “We have to... get dressed....”

“Y-yeah...” Akaya managed to say before moaning again and pulling him back into the kiss.

He took hold of Akaya’s shirt and pushed it up to undress him, of course, only so they could get dressed in what his mother set out. A still fully dressed Hiyoshi requested, “Help me?” as he started undoing Akaya’s pants for him.

Akaya laughed quietly against his lips and started undressing him as well. They broke the kiss as Akaya lifted his shirt up and over his head and Hiyoshi started to kiss softly down his chest so he could pull Akaya’s pants down and off, tickling his sides slightly in the process.

“Hmm, we should get changed like this all the time,” he heard Akaya say with a small shiver and laugh.

“Heh. Then we would never get anywhere.” He kissed the inside of a toned thigh then went to lie on top of him, pushing his hair back and out of his face, enjoying the view. “Your family is expecting us downstairs.”

“They can wait a bit longer” Was the response, accompanied by a mischievous smirk. “Why you in a hurry to go downstairs now?”

“I just don't want to keep your mother waiting before she comes looking for us,” he said seriously. “Patience isn't exactly one of your family’s virtues.” Akaya pouted at him and he resisted the urge to laugh.

“Yeah... alright...” The brat pulled him into another kiss which was exactly what they should have been trying to avoid. He never grew tired of Akaya’s kisses and they always managed to distract him, which Akaya was damn well aware of.

Soon they were right back to where they started, only this time Hiyoshi had a hand massaging the inside of Akaya’s thigh. “You're so damn distracting...”

Akaya moaned some more and smirked, tugging at his hair gently. “'s not my fault.”

Hiyoshi snickered. “It's entirely your fault,” and moved his hand up to feel him through his boxers. “You're so needy.”

“That's your fault... you make me needy...” he replied between, his eyes seeming to turn a shade darker.

Unhurriedly, Hiyoshi’s hand slid under the elastic waist line of his boyfriend’s boxers and fisted him gently, asking calmly, “Would you say this is my fault, too?” He gave Akaya’s hard and sensitive member a questioning squeeze and was awarded by the beautiful sight of his boyfriend arching slightly off the bed with his eyes squeezed shut and a surprised pleased moan.

“Nn… of course it's your fault...”

“Hmm... I guess I better stop then.” He let go and started to move away with a knowing grin. He couldn’t help himself sometimes.

“Oh you're evil...” Akaya whimpered. “Come on Wakashi... don't--don't stop please...”

Hiyoshi smiled and ran his fingers over Akaya’s lower stomach in small circles. “I'm trying to be a good boyfriend... Though if you really want it... I know you can ask better than that.”

“Please Wakashi?” The bratty demon was still moaning quietly and wriggling his hips enticingly, “You really don't want us to go down there turned on... They'll make comments about it and just send us back up here...”

“Your family is so strange.” He shook his head amused. “I… really like them.” Taking hold of him again, he started with long confident strokes, smiling against his demon lover’s neck.

“They feel normal to me...” was said between breathless laughing, “I'm glad you like them though... they like you a lot...”

Hiyoshi took his time, handling him nice and easy, building him up slowly and loving the look on his boyfriend’s face. “I wouldn't say they're normal.” He said with a smirk and kissed his lips lightly, “I'm glad as well.”

“Hmm... I still haven’t gotten to meet your parents yet...”

“…Because they wouldn't be nearly as receptive to us as yours...” Trying to distract Akaya from that line of thought, he started to pump a little harder and faster.

Akaya’s back arched up off the bed again, this time with a louder moan. “Mm... we don't have to tell them...”

Hiyoshi reflexively rolled his hips against Akaya's leg, the sight of him taking his breath away. “You really think... we could hide it?”

“Y-yeah... I really want to meet your parents...” Akaya surprised him then by reaching down to rub his groin slowly through his pants making him gasp at the contact.

“I just don't think it's a good idea...” In retaliation, Hiyoshi rubbed his thumb over the head of Akaya's very hot and wanting shaft, twisting in just the way he knew his boyfriend liked.

Akaya bit back a cry, but still managed to moan loud enough so anyone even close to the room could hear him. “You told me I could Wakashi...”

Claiming his lips, he tried to cover Akaya’s moans with kisses. “You will... just not yet...” He had to cover up a low moan of his own and tried to bury it in Akaya’s neck.

“A-alright...” The currently being pleasure boy answered only half coherently. He was in one of those moments Hiyoshi loved to watch his lover in most, straining against his hand, eyes going between shut and glazed over, lips and body red and shuddering with every movement as if he had no control over himself. He bared more of his neck to him in invitation, or was that pleading?

He ravaged the offered neck, sucking and biting. His hand on Akaya was confident and knowing, trying to bring him to completion. “Trust me... I want... want you to meet them, eventually...”

He felt a stronger shudder run through Akaya’s body as his lover released with a loud cry of pleasure, hands gripping tightly at his dirty blond hair. His own throbbing erection ached painfully at the sight and feel of Akaya coming beneath him. He continued to stroke him through his orgasm, listening to his rapid breathing.

Akaya’s quiet panting lasted a few more moments before he looked at him with lust filled eyes, wearing that mischievous slutty smirk. “S-sit back... I want to suck you off...”

If he hadn’t been so turned on, Hiyoshi might have laughed. “Just a reminder, you realize we're in your parent’s house, right?” but even saying so, he obediently sat back and waited.

Not seeming to listen or care, Akaya kneeled between his legs and released his length from the confines of his pants. “I know...”

“Fuck…” Hiyoshi gasped and covered his mouth as his boyfriend lowered his head to mouth over the tip of his cock.

Smirking, Akaya took him all the way into his mouth, sucking at him expertly, making him writhe, trying not to forget time and place. “Fuck... Akaya... don’t mess around… mm… damn it…” He threaded his fingers in Akaya’s hair, adding a little pressure. Akaya moaned around him and watched with amused eyes, taking his time despite his pleas.

“You...” He closes his eyes and his head collides with the headboard. “Damn brat...” He had a hard time controlling himself when Akaya did this, and would rather die than be caught by a member of Akaya’s family.

Akaya chuckled around him and bobbed his head, sucking at him happily while Hiyoshi exerted great self control by not thrusting into that warm mouth, Akaya's slow movements and suction a sweet torture. “Oh god... I'm going to kill you for this later...” The only response he got was another moan around him before the chibi demon moved up to lick and tease at just his tip.

“Ah… hurry… nn… it up…” He wasn’t usually this demanding, but he could barley keep himself together, and the thought of his family being right downstairs… His breathing came faster and he pulled harder on Akaya’s hair.

That’s when Akaya finally decided to take in his whole length again while watching him with those big green piercing eyes. He had to cover his mouth again, holding in a loud cry. Fists clenched, he chanced to look down at Akaya and his eyes almost rolled back at the sight, “A-Aka...” Pleasure ripped through him as he came hard in his boyfriend’s mouth.

Akaya happily continued to suck lazily at him through his whole orgasm and Hiyoshi’s hand now ran smoothly and gently through messy hair as shudders still racked his body. “Mmm… Come up here.” He gave the ebony curls a slight tug.

Moving up, Akaya kissed him slowly, wrapping him in his arms. Hiyoshi kissed him back lovingly and smiled into the kiss. Pulling back to breath, but keeping him close, he whispered in a breathless note, “We should get dressed....” How many times had he said that? He was always the practical one.

“Yeah...” Akaya murmured back but didn’t look like he was going to move any time soon.

Hiyoshi nuzzled his nose right behind Akaya’s ear, breathing in his scent, and whispered barely loud enough to hear, “I love you.”

He didn’t see as much as hear the smile on his brat’s face when he heard him reply, “I love you too, Wakashi.”

Content, he kissed him one last time before sighing and lifting them both off the bed. As they got up, his eyes fell on Akaya’s neck. “Shit. I really hope whatever your mom laid out for us covers your neck.”

Akaya blinked and touched his neck, flushing a little. “Did you leave a mark?”

“A small one,” he admitted and touched the small red mark. “Heh… It's your own fault.”

“Oh well,” Akaya replied with a laugh.

Hiyoshi shook his head in mock exasperation then got a towel to wipe them both down. “Do you know what we're supposed to wear first?” He asked curiously, eyeing the nicely stacked and hung up matching outfits with apprehension.

“Nope, no idea.”

“We can't change until we know, so go down and ask your mother.”

“The one’s on top boys!” Kirihara Yuzuka’s voice suddenly called from downstairs.

Hiyoshi’s eyes widened in alarm but then almost immediately he started to laugh. This family was just too weird.

He took the plain dark matching suits off their hangers and handed Akaya his, wondering exactly how Akaya’s mother knew his size. Turning to Akaya, he rolled his eyes when he saw he’d messed up the buttons. Without a word, he approached him and started unbuttoning and then re-buttoning them.

“Thanks, Wakashi.” Akaya smiled at him.

Teasingly, he smacked his boyfriend upside the head. “Think you can handle the rest, brat?”

He handed him the pants, watching as he slipped them on, but then Akaya looked up at him with a smirk. “You want to help me with these too, Wakashi?”

Smirking back, he pulled him closer by the collar and kissed him, zipping up Akaya’s pants and buttoning them while fondling him lightly in the process. “There, is that what you wanted?”

“Yes,” Akaya replied, smiling like an idiot, making him chuckle. He let him go to put on his own pants and finished dressing.

When he looked up again, Akaya was fiddling lazily with his tie. “I know you know how to put that on yourself.”

“Heh heh, yeah, if fukubuchou made sure I learned anything, it was how to put on my tie right. You have no idea how many laps I got for getting it wrong.”

“I think he’ll just use any excuse to make you run laps.”

“Probably...”

“Well, put your tie on properly so we can go downstairs. They're probably wondering what's taking us so long.”

Akaya tied his tie quickly then took his hand in his. “Alright, let's go.”

“Okay...” Hiyoshi was still self-conscious about showing affection in front of Akaya’s family (or anyone for that matter), but since Akaya didn’t mind at all and it was his family… He took a deep breath and squeezed his hand, letting him lead back downstairs.

Kirihara-san gave them a knowing look as they came down. “Nice of you to join us, boys. You two look adorable.”

Right away Hiyoshi’s cheeks flushed at her tone and he unconsciously tried to hide part of himself behind Akaya while mumbling a polite thank you since it was the courteous thing to do.

Akaya laughed and Hiyoshi was tempted to smack him. “Heh heh, I think you're freakin him out mom.”

“Oh, don't be silly. Now, Akaya, since you're the baby, you're up first---“

“I'm not the baby anymore!” Akaya pointed to Hiyoshi. “I'm older than him.”   
Hiyoshi glared since he did not like to be reminded of that.

“Really?” Kirihara-momma blinked at him in a familiar Akaya way and he suddenly felt even more uncomfortable than before. “When's your birthday, Wakashi?”

“December 5th...”

“Oh! We have plenty of time to plan a party then, right Akaya?”

The brat had a devilish glint in his eye he didn’t trust. “Yeah, plenty of time.”

Hiyoshi’s eyes narrowed. “NO parties.” He couldn’t remember ever having one he’d actually enjoyed, though that might have been because the only ones he’d ever had were put on by Choutarou in middle school.

“Why not?” Akaya pouted at him.

An eyebrow twitched. “It's not necessary. It's not important.” Plus it wasn’t fair since he had screwed up Akaya’s birthday so badly and he still felt some guilt over that.

“Come on, Wakashi, it'll be fun!”

No, it wouldn’t. “I would really rather not.”

“Wakashi… come on. You know if she doesn't throw one, I will.”

He suddenly had a terrifying image of a party organized by his boyfriend. It consisted of a lot of alcohol, embarrassing games, and video games. He wasn’t sure what the lesser of the two evils would be.

Sighing in frustration, he decided it wasn’t worth the argument. “Do what you want,” he grumbled grimly.

“Heh, heh.”

“Oh good. I'll start on the planning next week then.” Momma was glowing again. “Now, Wakashi, you're up first for pictures. They'll do a couple shots of you by yourself then move onto Akaya and so forth, then we'll do group ones.”

“Why do I have to take individual photos?” Hiyoshi was still very confused to why he was doing this at all. “Wouldn't it be alright to just do one of the group photos?” He was feeling a lot of pressure and his palms were starting to sweat.

“We all do them. You know, like all the actors in plays and musicals, we make little photosets for ourselves, though I suppose you can take yours with Akaya if you want.”

Hiyoshi looked at both of them like they were crazy and just gave into the inevitable. “Whatever you want.” This was becoming an unfortunate cycle.

Akaya squeezed his hand. “I'll take 'em with you, it will be fun. We don't have many pictures of just you and me.”

He was grateful for Akaya’s offer since he hadn’t felt comfortable at all with the idea of taking pictures by himself. “There aren't very many pictures of me period.” And he was perfectly fine with that. Though his boyfriend was right, the only picture they had together was the one from Tokyo Disneyland.

“That's no good. I want lots of pictures of you.” Akaya smiled wide at him.

“You already have two, how many more do you need?” The one Natsumi gave him and the one from Splash Mountain currently on Akaya's desk.

“Hundreds.”

Hiyoshi blanched. “You…” He really hoped he wasn’t being serious and laughed nervously. “Let’s get this over with.”

He was led into a little studio area the photographers set up. The family had obviously spared no expense, but it seemed to him a bit much for just family pictures. Once positioned in front of the cameras, he stood like a statue in the center with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

Akaya rolled his eyes at him and wrapped his arms around his waist from the front. He tried to move away but Akaya held him fast then looked him in the eye. “Wakashi... Look at me, smile.” Hiyoshi did look at him, but only rolled his eyes. Then, without warning, Akaya kissed him lightly. “I love you,” the manipulative brat whispered and smiled while looking at him as if he were the only other person in the world.

Hiyoshi’s facial features immediately softened, caught in his look and returned it. Akaya rested their heads together happily and a small smile appeared on Hiyoshi’s lips. He brushed a stray curl out of Akaya’s eyes and let the hand slide down his cheek, completely forgetting about the cameras for the moment.

Akaya’s eyes never left his and then his brat was slowly pressing their lips together. Hiyoshi closed his eyes and cupped Akaya’s face, kissing him back tenderly while reaching out to pull him closer. His boyfriend was humming quietly against him in that happy content way and he could feel eyes fluttering closed against his skin as everything faded away.

After a moment more, Hiyoshi pulled away with a soft smile. He opened his eyes, smiling even wider at the open expression on Akaya’s face and ruffled his hair making him laugh quietly. If either of them had looked, they would have seen Akaya’s mother completely starry eyed and near tears.

Hiyoshi took one of Akaya’s hands in his and kissed the inside of his palm lovingly, never taking his eyes off him, however, the moment his eyes left Akaya’s, he abruptly became aware of the cameras again and his eyes widened. Pushing Akaya away in embarrassment, his cheeks flushed bright red and he warily moved behind the other boy in a futile attempt to hide from further humiliation. “I hate you…”

“I know, but now we'll have really wonderful pictures,” was the brat’s only excuse and Hiyoshi suddenly felt the need to attack something... maybe the camera crew.

“No one but us and your family will EVER see them... right?” was asked in a deadly serious voice while glaring at him threateningly over the shoulder.

“Of course not...” Hiyoshi doubted he could trust that, but there was nothing he could do about it now save destroying the film, but he doubted Akaya or his mother would forgive him.

Hiyoshi wrapped his arms around Akaya’s middle so he was leaning back in the circle of his arms. Figuring it didn’t matter any more so he might as well make the brat happy, he grumbled out. “I'll give you 30 more seconds of this then I'm done.”

“Alright.” Akaya accepted the terms with a laugh, looking quite happy.

The camera’s continued to click away at them. He tried to smile, he really did, but it looked more like a forced cynical smirk or a glare depending on the moment. He was counting to thirty in his head, counting the seconds till his freedom, when Akaya turned in his arms and kissed his forehead, laughing at him. The counting became verbal through clenched teeth. “…29…30... time’s up.” Without delay, he let go and walked away. Akaya’s must have found that amusing because his laughing just got louder.

As he walked off the set, he saw Akaya’s parents watching them and felt his earlier embarrassment come rushing back. At this point it was obvious their relationship didn’t bother them but that didn’t mean he was comfortable being public about it in front of them, not to mention, he was automatically paranoid of parents in general. “Umm…” He had no idea what he should say and looked back to Akaya for help, but before any help could be given, he was glomped onto by Akaya’s mother.

“You are just the cutest thing!”

The blush traveled all the way down his neck and he froze in place, having no idea how to handle the sudden motherly embrace or compliments he wasn’t allowed to contradict. Then there was an extra weight as Akaya hugged onto him as well, his earlier pleas having obviously been completely ignored. He felt his body going on embarrassment overload and couldn’t take it anymore. Bristling out of their embrace, he raced out of the room toward the living room as quickly as possible.

Finally alone, he was able to get a hold of his breathing again and tried to be calm enough to make the redness in his cheeks dissipate. “They’re trying to kill me…” was whispered under his breath as he looked around the room. It was his first time in the living room by himself so decided to wander, looking at the multiple pictures hanging on the wall and leaning against surfaces. One particular family photo caught his eye of the four of them with an around five-year-old Akaya giving the camera man a very bratty expression his boyfriend still used daily. He picked it up with a small fond smile.

Unbeknownst to him, the said brat had followed him to the living room but had stopped right outside the door hiding and watching him; a small smile mirroring Hiyoshi’s.

Hiyoshi put the photo down and moved on to another that must have been taken around the time he first met Akaya briefly when they were in middle school. His smile turned to a smirk at the familiar expression on Akaya’s face, just as he remembered him.

Moving on to the next set of pictures, he raised a curious eyebrow at Akaya’s straight hair, almost not recognizing him without his curly locks. He chuckled under his breathe and hoped Akaya would never do that again. Akaya’s hair had become very dear to him and he couldn’t imagine not being able to run his hands through the tangled web of impossible curls.

If he had looked back at the door Akaya was currently failing at hiding behind, he would have seen his boyfriend redden at him seeing those photos. Hiyoshi’s attention however had already moved on to a picture of a small Akaya with a few missing teeth, beaming wide at him in all his childish demon innocence.

Feeling a slight klepto impulse, he began to reach towards it but quickly caught himself and shook his head. “No… you’re not like Natsumi…” he chastised himself harshly before whirling around at the unexpected laugh coming from the doorway. “...How long have you been standing there?” he asked, trying not to blush again.

“Not long...” was the grinning reply.

Long enough, Hiyoshi thought. “I was just... looking at the photos. Your family does this every year?”

“Yeah. It's a family thing I guess. We just all like pictures.”

Hiyoshi nodded and looked at one of the photos again. “My family doesn't, though I suppose part of that’s because we're all rarely home at the same time.” He didn’t talk about his own family often, but there really wasn’t much to tell and he’d never thought to mind. “We have one family portrait that was taken for my grandmother when I was a baby, but I think that's it.”

Akaya walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around him slowly. Hiyoshi leaned back into the embrace comfortably. He didn’t really care that his family never took pictures, but thought it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to attempt doing something family-like every once in a while.

“I love you.” Akaya said while kissing the back of his neck.

“I know,” he chuckled back, rolling his eyes. “You don't have to feel bad for me or anything. I don't. At least my family isn't insane.”

Akaya laughed. “I don't feel bad for you. And guess what, you're part of the insane family now so get used to it.”

Hiyoshi turned his head to look sideways at him, giving him an overly exasperated look. “Damn... What the hell was I thinking?”

In a mock version of a teacher’s voice, Akaya answered, “Obviously you weren't Hiyoshi-kun.”

There was a soft “pft” and Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Can I get a do-over?”

“Nope!”

He sighed. “Oh well. I guess I'll survive somehow.” Leaning back against him again and closing his eyes, he allowed himself to think just for a moment that he really could be a part of this family.

“Yeah, somehow.” he heard Akaya say behind him while kissing his neck again.

He chucked and stayed where he was, comfortable in Akaya’s arms. After a minute or two though he started to get paranoid someone would walk in and see them like this so untangled himself from Akaya’s hold. “What pictures do we have next? Do we change now?”

“Yeah,” Akaya sighed. “We both gotta change into the Christmas outfits. I gotta go do my individual pictures first though. Wanna go change and I'll meet you in my room?”

“Fine.” He liked the idea of having an escape route given to him so he didn’t have to go back into the studio room yet. “I’ll see you upstairs.” He turned to leave, but before he could make his exit, Akaya pulled him back into a quick grinning kiss. The kiss caught him by surprise and he smiled back automatically before remembering this wasn’t the time or place and pulled back with a glare, shaking his head before leaving. He could still hear Akaya’s laughter as he went up the stairs.

Back in Akaya’s room, he took his first good look at the next outfit set out for him and cringed. “I am NOT wearing this…” Sitting on the bed with a contemplative expression, he tried to figure out a good way to get out of this, all the while glaring bloody murder at the sweater adorned with a happy grinning snowman.

Akaya came up not long after, pulling off his shirt as he walked in. “Hey—why aren’t you changed yet?”

The expression on Hiyoshi’s face didn’t change as he pointed to the offending article of clothing without a word.

“…Yeah? It's a sweater. You haven't worn a sweater before?”

He looked at him incredulously. “It... has a happy snowman on it...”

“Yeah—that’s Christmacy”

Now he was trying to figure out the best way to tell his boyfriend how emasculating it was and that he didn’t DO Christmasy. “It doesn’t suit me.”

“Of course it does. Well, you can wear mine if you want?” He held up a green sweater with a chibi happy Rudolf on it.

Hiyoshi’s couldn’t contain his laughter. It came spilling out as he doubled over onto the bed, saying between laughs. “That's... okay. It matches your eyes.” It would almost be worth it to wear the stupid snowman sweater to see Akaya in his.

Akaya stared at him flatly. “Yeah yeah, laugh it up, snow man.”

That only made him laugh harder, and he saw Akaya’s eye twitch. Trying to get his breathing under control, he glared up at him. “Are you trying to kill me?” snicker, “Reindeer-san?”

Akaya twitched again then jumped on him, knocking him back with an “Umph!” He had no time for retaliation before Akaya started to tickle him mercilessly; resulting in crazed laughter under Akaya’s knowing fingers. “HA HA STOP... BRAT! HA HA! Can't... BREATHE!”

“What’s wrong? Going to melt, frosty?” Akaya smirked at him all high and mighty above him.

“I… think” he gulped down some much needed air, “I already did,” then laughed some more. Finally getting a hold of Akaya’s arms, he yanked them away from his sides and mashed their lips together.

Akaya groaned and kissed him back firmly. Hiyoshi kissed him while still smiling, holding his hands behind his back so he couldn’t tickle him any more. Once he got a good enough hold on him, he forced him into an even deeper kiss, using the leverage on his arms to pull him harder against his body.

Akaya moaned happily against him, obediently letting him take full control of the kiss. Hiyoshi took that familiar tongue into his mouth, sucking and massaging at it greedily, taking full advantage of his position in control.

Pulling them both up till they were on their knees, showing a large amount of self-restraint, Hiyoshi yanked his lips away from Akaya’s with a gasp.

“Stop me now or I’m going to fuck you right here.”

The brat only smirked. “What if I want you to?”

Hiyoshi laughed, so tempted, but… in the end, released his hands and pulled him into a hug. “How do you do it?” he whispered into his neck.

He could feel Akaya blink against his skin. “Do what?” he asked, hugging him back.

“You somehow manage to make me happy.” He nuzzled his neck, not caring how sappy that sounded.

“Because you love me.” was the simple answer.

Hiyoshi only nodded, thinking about how much he really wanted to continue this scenario, but instead got up and slipped on the happy snowman sweater. Turning around, he faced Akaya feeling ridiculous with such a childish out of character sweater on.

Akaya grinned at him, looking like he was trying not to laugh. Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and grabbed Akaya’s sweater. “Arms up, brat.”

Grinning wider, Akaya shot his arms up like a kid on a rollercoaster.

Hiyoshi dressed him like one would a five-year-old and mussed up his hair when his head popped out the top. “It suits you,” he smirked then went to the door to go back downstairs. Akaya grinned ear to ear as he trotted out right behind him.

Before they entered back into the studio room, Hiyoshi looked back at Akaya and noticed the small mark on his neck from earlier was not sufficiently covered. “Uhh…” He gestured toward the mark, worried.

Akaya just shrugged and didn’t say a word, as if he already knew but didn’t care.

Hiyoshi was embarrassed but knew people were less likely to notice if he wasn’t a walking obvious hint. He took Akaya’s hand in his as an act of personal defiance and started to walk them back to the studio.

Akaya seemed stunned for a moment then his expression softened and he squeezed his hand. “Naa, Wakashi. I love you.” He said right before they walked back into the studio.

Hiyoshi squeezed his hand back. “Me, too.”

Upon arrival, Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at the family of assorted happy Christmas sweaters. Whispering into Akaya’s ear, he teased jokingly, “I don't think I've ever seen your sister with that much clothing on.”

Akaya flat out cackled at that, making his sister glare at him. He kissed Hiyoshi’s cheek and grinned from ear to ear, looking quite amused.

“Alright!” Akaya’s mother spoke up, “Everyone’s in the picture. Let's go. Sweetheart, you're in back. Haruka, you're in front of your father. Akaya, in the middle, and Wakashi, next to Akaya.”

Hiyoshi followed Akaya to stand as directed, feeling somehow even more awkward than with just him and Akaya. He stood stiffly, having a case of statue syndrome in front of the cameras again. At least this time Akaya wouldn’t try anything inappropriate… hopefully.

“Now now, honey, relax.” Akaya’s mother said, putting a hand on Hiyoshi’s shoulder.

He tensed at the contact at first but forced himself to relax. Akaya took his hand with a smile and suddenly he was feeling a bit coddled and embarrassed, but he could also feel warmth in his chest. His lips turned up in a weak but true smile. Akaya raised his fingers in a “V” sign and grinned happily as the cameraman clicked away.

After what felt like an eternity of standing there, which was actually probably only a few minutes, he started to wonder how much longer he would have to fend off his need to escape. Looking over at Akaya through the corner of his eye, he also noticed that his boyfriend was way too used to this and seemed to enjoy getting his picture taken entirely too much.

“Alright, boys, I think we're done for now. Why don't you two go relax until dinner?” Akaya’s mother’s voice rang out like a blessed school bell telling kids class was over for the day.

Relaxing sounded good, very good. Facing Akaya’s father, he bowed sincerely since it was the polite thing to do. “Sorry for the intrusion. Thank you for allowing me to trespass upon your family.”

Akaya’s father merely nodded his head. “Of course, of course, you two go on.”

Even though he probably shouldn’t have been, Hiyoshi was surprised. Akaya’s father seemed to merely wave them off and he wondered if he should bother following proper protocol and thank him again. Then his father put his hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. “You don't have to be so polite here, Wakashi-kun. You're part of the family, remember?”

It was one thing to hear it from Akaya and his mom, completely different coming from his father. He nodded slowly, words caught in his throat. Akaya laced his hand through his and pulled him along towards his room with a big happy smile.

The short trip back up to Akaya’s room was a blur. Once they reached it, Akaya closed the door behind them with a happy sigh. “There, free!” He pulled off his sweater in one motion and threw it in a corner.

Hiyoshi stood there watching him, though not really seeing him, thinking.

Akaya looked at him worriedly. Coming over, he bent his head to look directly into Hiyoshi’s blank stare. “Wakashi...?”

Hiyoshi blinked when Akaya’s features came so close into his line of vision. “Thinking, brat, give me a second.” He crossed his arms and looked at his brat with a contemplative expression while Akaya just stared back him, giving him his minute.

After a few more moments, he came out of it and flicked Akaya’s forehead. “Done. What do you want to do?”

Akaya blinked and rubbed his forehead, looking confused as hell, which was actually rather amusing. “Uh, I dunno.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, let me know when you figure it out.” Going to his bag, he pulled out his book and sat comfortably on Akaya’s bed, opened it and started to read.

“EH?!” Akaya crawled across the bed and stared at him over his book with a pout. “Wakashi~! Don't just read and ignore me!!”

“I told you to let me know if there was anything you wanted to do.” He looked up from the book with a raised eyebrow. “Who could possibly ignore you?” He pulled Akaya against him so dark curls lay against his chest and he ran his hand through them lazily.

Akaya smiled and closed his eyes while Hiyoshi looked back down to his book and read while his hand continued to comb and lightly scratch through Akaya’s very spoiled head of hair.

After only a few minutes, he heard a… “Heh heh heh...”

“What are you snickering at, brat?”

“You're wearing a happy snowman sweater.”

He’d completely forgotten about that. “It’s comfortable…”

Akaya grinned and poked the snowman in the nose.

Sighing, he pushed Akaya off him for a second so he could sit up enough to discard the sweater to the other end of the bed. Then he settled back down again with Akaya, who was grinning as if he got exactly what he wanted and who began kissing down his chest.

“You know,” Hiyoshi smirked, “You're making it very difficult for me to concentrate on my book.”

“That was the point.”

“I see.” He raised an eyebrow and went back to reading.

Akaya flicked his tongue over Hiyoshi’s nipple with a feigned innocent look, resulting in a small flinch of repressed reaction, but Hiyoshi still refused to take his eyes off the book. The persistent brat nipped at him some more and moved up to kiss along his neck. He no longer recognized the words on the pages but still wouldn’t give Akaya the satisfaction of closing it. It was about then he could feel Akaya concentrating on one particular spot on his neck and knew it would leave a dark mark behind. He closed his book so he could hit him lightly over the head with it.

“No marks, brat. I don't want your parents to see.”

Akaya pouted at him, “but I have one, why can't you have one?”

“Because they look much nicer on you,” he said with a teasing leer.

“Pervert.” Akaya teased right back.

“Whose fault is that?” He asked with a shrug and pulled Akaya more comfortably on top of him. Slowly, he started kissing his neck in much the same way Akaya had just been doing to him.

“Hm, totally not mine.”

“Oh? Whose fault is it then? You'd rather it be someone else's?” He bit down on a perfect patch of skin on Akaya’s shoulder then ran his tongue over it.

Akaya moaned above him. “No way... That's not allowed...”

“So it is your fault then?” He moved down Akaya’s chest and copied Akaya’s earlier treatment by lightly licking at the area around a nipple before taking it gently between his teeth.

“Mmm... maybe… just a little...”

Hiyoshi snickered and moved to the other nipple, giving it the same loving attention while Akaya shivered in his arms and buried his hands in his hair. He didn’t want to leave marks where they would be visible, but had no qualms whatsoever with leaving them everywhere else. He took his time massaging Akaya's muscled chest, abs, and torso with his hands and mouth. “If this is what you wanted to do, you should have just said so.”

“Mm…” Akaya was making those good noises. “You should know it's what I wanted already...” If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought Akaya’s whole body was purring against him.

“Maybe I just like hearing you say it.” Slowly, he made his way back up Akaya’s body, but because Akaya was a little taller than him and still straddling his lap, he couldn’t quite reach his lips. “You need to shrink.” He glared up at him irritated.

“Heh heh. No way. I like being taller.”

“I don’t,” Hiyoshi sulked and grabbed a fist full of hair, forcing his lover’s head lower. Akaya just sank into him, kissing him back warmly. Hiyoshi sighed, irritation too easily gone. “Do we have any other obligations this evening?”

“We gotta have dinner with everyone, but other than that, it's our time the rest of the night.” His boyfriend answered, giving him the look.

“Our time? And what exactly do you have in mind for our time?”

“What do you think?”

“Hmm... Well, you do have a lot of video games, and I saw a park on our way here. You could always want to go socialize with your family...” Oh, how much he loved to give Akaya a hard time.

The look turned into a full out pout and mushroom-headed boy chuckled, taking pity on him. “Or I suppose we could always fuck each other through the mattress for the rest of the evening?”

The look came back full force and it looked like Akaya was about to pounce. “Now you're talkin—“

“But,” he interrupted, stopping him, “perhaps we should save that for after dinner.”

Akaya pouted again but conceded. “Yeah... I guess you're right…”

He smiled and fluffed his hair. “That’s a good brat.”

Hiyoshi leaned back against the headboard feeling relaxed and happy while Akaya nuzzled his neck and closed his eyes with a soft. “Hmm...” He went back to reading his book while idly running his hands through Akaya’s hair. In his opinion, it was the perfect way to waste an hour or two.

Momma called up to them announcing it was time for dinner about an hour and a half later. Hiyoshi put his book to the side and called softly to his human blanket. “Akaya, wake up. Your mother is calling us.”

“Hmm…” The demon boy blinked open his eyes and sat up slowly, yawning. “Mm, is it dinner time?”

Hiyoshi nodded and got up to find his shirt. Slipping it on, he straightened out his clothes to look presentable. Akaya just reached under his bed and pulled out a wrinkled shirt that had been hiding under there. Putting it on, he stretched and yawned again. “Mmmm -- I hope dinner is good.”

“Do you doubt your mothers cooking?”

“Hm, mom's cooking is the best. Alright, let's go.”

They made their way downstairs with Akaya in the lead. Akaya happily trotted into the dinning room and took his seat at the table, gesturing for Hiyoshi to take the empty seat next to him. Hiyoshi had no idea what Akaya’s family considered to be good table manners so decided to play it safe, remaining silent and watchful.

The food appeared to be stereotypical American, which perhaps made sense since Akaya’s father was American. He’d never had food like this outside of McDonald’s or Wendy’s but wasn’t going to tell Akaya’s mother that.

“Wow, you really went all out mom.” Akaya said next to him with a big grin.

“Dig in boys. Wakashi-kun, if you don't like anything you don’t have to eat it and I can always make you something else too.”

Would he ever cease to be surprised by this family? At his own home almost everything was made by the hired cook. If you didn’t like what you were served then you either sucked it up and ate it anyway or didn’t eat at all. It made sense to him even though he was a picky eater and had gone without many meals in his life. “I'm sure it’s all very good. Thank you.”

Not wanting to be rude in any way, he reached out to serve himself as he saw everyone else was doing and ate silently while listening to the conversations going on around him. The food was very different from what he was used to but by no means bad. There were no mushrooms.

Akaya was chatting along with the rest of his family, every once in a while throwing glares at his sister, generally smiling and enjoying the dinner. He felt out of place in the atmosphere and couldn’t help comparing them to his own family whose dinners were mostly respectfully silent, only interrupted by questions from his father or amusing out of place jests by his brother.

Laughing at something his father said, Akaya turned to him, “Hey, you don't gotta be so quiet.”

“What am I supposed to say?” He asked frankly.

“Don't look so confused.”

“Yes, Wakashi, don't be so quiet,” Momma added. “Hm, how has school been?”

School was a safe enough subject. “Good. I've been working hard to keep up with my studies, thank you for asking.”

Akaya’s mother just kind of blinked at him like Akaya did when he was confused. “Well, tell us about it. What classes are you taking? Which ones are hard? Oh! Do you have any attractive teachers?”

His eyes widened, thinking she couldn’t possibly be asking about his teachers the way it sounded. “Uh... I'm mostly taking general education and business courses. Economics is difficult but it’s essential to my understanding of the major. My... teachers? I have no complaints I suppose.”

“Are any of them cute?”

Okay, apparently she HAD meant that the way it sounded. It didn’t help that Akaya was watching him with a big fat curious grin on his face.

“Err...” All the attention around the table was focused him and his palms started to sweat. “C..cute? I guess... uh...” He didn’t know what to say and had to actually think for a moment to remember what his current teachers looked like. “My business math instructor is nice...”

Akaya laughed and leaned over to kiss his cheek as everyone else went back to their chatter. He breathed out a sigh of relief once the attention was no longer on him.

Looking over at Akaya, he said in a low flustered tone so not to be overheard above the other conversations, “What kind of question was that?”

His boyfriend just shrugged as if it was nothing. “Seems like a reasonable question to me...”

“Do you think any of your instructors are cute?”

Akaya laughed. “You really want to know?”

It was meant as a joke but now he was uncertain. “I don't know...”

“My English teacher is pretty hot, but he never really makes much sense,” he shrugged again. “Other than that, they're all old and weird.”

Hiyoshi wasn’t sure if he should be concerned his boyfriend thought a teacher was hot or just relieved he wasn’t interested in him. With a small sigh, he turned back to his food and tried to keep up with what everyone else was talking about, though he was having a difficult time with the rather fast pace often random topics. But though he couldn’t follow the conversations well enough to join in, he still liked the unfamiliar upbeat mood at the table. He ate his food slowly and politely, trying to look interested in what everyone else was talking about.

After everyone looked to be finished, Akaya’s mother stood and began clearing the table while happily humming. Everyone at the table seemed full and happy, even the two cutthroat siblings looked satisfied. Hiyoshi was mentally exhausted from concentrating during the meal and over exposure to being social all day, but was no less satisfied.

“Thank you for the food, Kirih--Momma. It was very good.”

“You're so cute.” Momma grinned and kissed the top of his head. He felt the warmth spread through his cheeks for the umpteenth time that day and looked down at his lap. He was starting to worry if he blushed much more today it would become a condition.

Akaya stood and gesture to him. “Let's go upstairs.”

All he could do was nod and follow, but not before stopping to bow to Akaya’s father and politely thank him for the meal as well.

“Don't thank me. I can't cook to save my life, not unless it's barbeque.” The man heartily chuckled at him.

Hiyoshi had to refrain from informing him he was just trying to be polite since he was the head of the household and proper etiquette required… Oh, never mind. These people probably didn’t even know the definition of proper etiquette. He awkwardly bowed again and even gave a small head nod to Akaya's sister. Walking over to Akaya, he elbowed him in the ribs. “Thank your mom for the meal, brat.” He was determined that at least one person in this family would learn some manners.

Akaya winced then blinked, “Wha--? Oh uh, thanks mom...”

“Anytime, sweety.”

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes.

“What?”

“You have no manners.”

“Eh? Of course I do.”

“Oh? Since when?”

“Always.” Akaya stuck his tongue out at him.

The action made him snicker. “I'll believe it when I see it.”

Akaya “hmph’d” at him, like an offended five-year-old, and stomped up the stairs which only amused him more. He followed along behind trying but failing not to laugh at his little tantrum.

Back in the room, Hiyoshi closed the door behind them and Akaya sat on the bed, complaining with a pout. “You better make that comment up to me.”

“Make it up to you? First, I think you need to prove it to me.”

“Make me.”

Hiyoshi walked over to the bed and looked down at him with a challenging glint in his eyes. “How about you make me?”

Akaya stared right back at him just as challengingly.

“Besides, I already did make you,” he pointed out with a snicker, referring to making Akaya thank his mother for dinner.

The only response he got was Akaya sticking his tongue out at him again. He rolled his eyes. “Yes, brat, that was real polite. You're not doing a very good job of proving yourself.”

Akaya was definitely in pouty mode. “I don't wanna, too much effort.”

Hiyoshi laughed and sat on the bed next to him, ruffling his hair. “That's okay. I like you the way you are,” he chuckled, “most of the time.”

Immediately, but not entirely unexpectedly, Akaya pounced on him and he landed on his back with a laugh, “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Just what I said.”

“And what about the rest of the time?”

Rolling his eyes, he pulled his pouty boyfriend the rest of the way on top of him. “The rest of the time... I love the way you are.” A lopsided grin was showing and he twirled a bit of Akaya’s hair around his finger.

Akaya laughed on top of him and leaned down to kiss him, which he returned happily. He let Akaya take full control of the kiss and relaxed against the bed, thinking that there was nowhere else he would rather be.

After a minute of light kisses, Akaya began to gently nip at his lower lip and suck at it, making him shiver as he lightly ran his palms up the warm skin of Akaya’s sides. It didn’t take long at all before Akaya’s hand slid down over his groin, prompting an instant response and the release of a small groan.

“Mm... Who said… you get to be in charge, brat?” Even though he liked it sometimes (okay, most of the time) when Akaya took charge, he still had to say something out of principle.

“If you wanna take control, you gotta take it from me.”

Half-heartedly, Hiyoshi started to squirm under him to get a better grip and flip them over, but his movements ceased when Akaya laughed and slipped his hand into his pants, gripping him with familiar knowing fingers. He let out a louder, needier sound and tried to cover it through clenched teeth. There was no good way to describe the evil smirk looking down at him and he glared back.

“Shut up...”

“I didn't say anything.”

“You didn't need to.”

Akaya placed a soft kiss on his lips and just kept them there, the smirk never leaving, and began teasing his length with just his finger tips. Hiyoshi moved against the hand, wanting more friction and growled at the teasing. He bit at Akaya’s lips in warning which won him one good stroke before he went back to teasing.

Hiyoshi arched slightly off the bed, breath quickening, Akaya was enjoying this way too much. “Damn brat…” He reached out to thumb over Akaya as well through is pants, not willing to let him get away with this one-sided.

“Hmm... I’m not a brat...” Akaya moaned happily at the contact before pulled his hand out of Hiyoshi’s pants so they could quickly and efficiently remove each other’s clothing.

Clothes all gone, he looked up at Akaya from the bed, raised an eyebrow, and asked in an amused tone, “Now what?”

Akaya pressed their bodies together with a little humming sound. ”Mmnn... What do you think?”

He closed his eyes as skin met skin, appreciating the sensation, then opened them a second later. “Maybe... if you're really good, I'll be generous.” So saying, he lifted a leg and wrapped it securely around Akaya’s, pulling him in hard against him.

Akaya smirked and moved in to kiss him again which he heartily reciprocated.

“Wow. This is even sappier than a boys love movie...”

At the unexpected intruding voice, Hiyoshi’s head swung to the side to find the culprit. Akaya’s sister was leaning against the doorframe watching them. He let out a rather loud squawk then tensed completely under Akaya.

“OUT!!!” Akaya yelled, glaring bloody murder at her.

She just giggled and gave them a little wave over her shoulder as she walked out, leaving the door open.

The silence was almost deafening before Hiyoshi breathed out, “Akaya... I hate your sister.”

“Join the club” Akaya snorted.

Hiyoshi watched nervously as Akaya reluctantly got up to close the door, feeling the mood had completely broken. When he came back, Akaya sat next to him, hands burying themselves in his hair. “Sorry about her...”

Slowly relaxing again, he pulled on Akaya’s arms till he was lying beside him again. He was at a loss for words until it occurred to him. “Umm... Akaya?”

“Hmm?”

“What the hell did she mean by we’re sappier than a movie boy's love?”

The laughter that followed had him crossing his arms indignantly.

“You're happier not knowing.”

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes.

“Trust me on that.”

“Fine,” he said in a clipped tone and turned on his side away from him. “Let's just go to bed.” As an afterthought he mumbled, “I'm not sappy...”

Akaya snuggled up to his back and wrapped his arms around him. “Naa, Wakashi... I'm really glad you came with me...”

Irritation forgotten, Hiyoshi smiled softly, relaxing into a comfortable sleep.


	44. Chapter 44

Journal: Hiyoshi

I got forced into taking their family pictures with them. Apparently they had already planned on it from the beginning. They like me, and I like them, and I hate to admit it but it’s scaring the hell out of me. It’s still hard to believe how accepting they are of me, of us. They treated me like I was their own son.

I feel like my whole life has changed, I’ve changed. When did I become so wrapped around Akaya’s little finger that he could just look at me and get away with anything? Am I so fucking scared of losing him that I’m willing to sacrifice everything? My pride? Shit.

After this weekend and our last fight I’ve realized a few things that really piss me off, things that need to change… and it’s my own damn fault for letting some it go this far.

I’m turning into everything I hate. Pathetic and weak. I haven’t had a good enough work out in ages… haven’t put any effort into anything lately but making him happy. I’ve missed my fraternity meetings more than I’ll admit because I can’t seem to say no to him. There are a thousand things I’d sworn I’d never do... Am I not able to stand up to my own damn demon boyfriend or even his family?

Damn it, just think about it is so fucking irritating. I need to take a walk… and maybe slam my fists against a wall a few times. I could really use a good work out. I need to figure out how to fix this.

CHAPTER 44

Hiyoshi had gone out looking for a quiet place outside of campus to sit and think on his own for a while. He’d had a nice time at Akaya’s parents place over the weekend, but coming home had left him feeling confused and irritated, neither of which he appreciated.

Amazingly enough, it was a bar he stumbled across that he ended up entering and making himself comfortable in. It was very small, very empty, and somehow appealing looking with low calming music wafting in the background.

He wasn’t sure how it’d happened. One moment he was sitting at the bar, drinking tea, and the next he was trading punches with some guy he didn’t even know. The tall, white-haired, and muscular in that long lanky kind of way guy had approached him with an obviously aggravated tone. The conversation had gone something to affect of:

“I don't like your fucking face... let me fix that for you.”

He’d raised an eyebrow inquiringly, wondering if there was some form of proper response to that. “I don't like your arm. Let me break it for you?”

“EEEEHHHH!!!! Fuck off and DIE!”

Though not the most refined of people, in fact, quite the opposite, he had to admit the guy had put up one hell of a fight. It felt like the best thing that could have happened to him. He thought amusedly that perhaps the other had been out looking for the same thing he was. Whatever the case, neither had come out unscathed and they’d finally had to come to a reluctant halt before they literally killed each other.

He hadn’t meant to take Gakuto’s mocking advice of getting kicked in the face quite so literally, but after going so long without a good fight, letting go and releasing all that pent up anger had been exactly what he’d needed. Maybe the chipmunk’s advice every once in a while wasn’t so bad.

Hoping Akaya would be asleep, as quietly as possible, he opened the door to their room. He was covered in bruises... everywhere. His face, his arms, his legs, and his side felt especially bad. There were a few small lines of blood streaming from somewhere on his upper forearm and his legs. He was a collage of black, blue, and red, and he knew his boyfriend would freak out if he didn’t at least attempt to clean up before he saw him. Tip-toeing in with a small limp, he tried to make his way over to where the first aid supply was.

Akaya heard the door open and rolled over to face his boyfriend with a 'you're late' look. When his brain finally processed what it was seeing, he went flying out of their bed he ran over to his boyfriend. "What the fuck happened!?"

Damn it. All hopes of not having to deal with Akaya till the morning were dashed. “Nothing, I got into a small fight.” He smirked at him, attempting to act like everything was perfectly fine and he wasn’t in a world of pain so he wouldn’t worry. “It looks worse than it is.”

"Bullshit!" He snapped and started looking over all his wounds critically. "Who the fuck were you fighting with?! A bear?!" He was not amused at all and whoever did this to his boyfriend was going to pay.

That made him laugh, and laughing hurt. Laughing turned into coughing which hurt even worse. Once he got control of himself again, he smiled for real. “It doesn’t matter. I’m fine.” In fact, he was feeling much better than fine right now, err… minus the physical pain, but he could deal with that. “You should go back to bed. I can clean up on my own.” He didn’t want Akaya to see the even worse bruises that probably covered his sides and abdominal area.

"Yeah right, now shut up, strip, and sit down so I can take care of you and get you cleaned up," he instructed grouchily, before pulling out the first aid kit.

Hiyoshi knew it was going to be a losing battle so didn’t even try to fight it. He sat down, more like slumped, onto his desk chair. He tried bringing his shirt up and off, but his arms decided to give out on him and didn’t want to lift above his shoulders. Nose wrinkling in annoyance, he tried again.

Akaya sighed and moved to help him gently pull the shirt off and throw it to the side. As he did though, his eyes grew wide at the dark bruises that were already forming on Hiyoshi’s sides. "Holy fuck Wakashi..." he kneeled in front of him and hesitantly reached out to ghost his fingers over one.

The wounded martial artist grabbed Akaya’s hand in his before it made contact with his marred skin and brought it up to lips, kissing his fingers. “Don’t worry. I needed this. I’ll be fine in a couple days.”

"You better," Akaya mumbled, trying not to let himself tear up before leaning in to steal a slow sensual kiss.

The kiss felt wonderful, and combined with all the physical pain that somehow ached in a good way, it felt downright heavenly. He moaned into the kiss, and if he’d had any of his strength left, would have pulled Akaya on top of him.

Akaya moved closer at the moan and let his kiss grow more demanding, but made sure to keep it gentle enough not to further injure his boyfriend.

Hiyoshi wanted to crush his boyfriend against his bruised muscles and tell him to fucking take him, but that wasn’t something he thought he could ever vocalize. Moaning Akaya’s name against his lips, he had to pull away in order to breath, each breath reminding him of his sore ribs. He nuzzled into the side of Akaya’s neck and bit down on an earlobe before sucking on it gently.

Akaya groaned a little in surprise and was about to touch his boyfriend and hold him close when he paused, not wanting to hurt him even more. "W-we should get you cleaned up..." he murmured, his voice getting husky again. Why did his ears have to be such a weak point?

Detecting that little weak note in Akaya’s voice, Hiyoshi smirked and trailed his tongue over the shell of Akaya’s ear, breathing hotly. “Later. For now, I want you to do exactly as I say, understand?”

Akaya moaned and gave up. He seemed to do that far too fast around Hiyoshi. "Okay..." he murmured.

Perfect. “I want you to fuck me.” Maybe he could say it after all. “I want you on me, in me, hard and fast, as soon as possible.” Just the thought made him moan directly into Akaya’s ear. “Then when you’re done, I want you to… take care of me.” Never in his life had he ever asked that of anyone. It went against his pride and everything he had been lamenting over for the last twenty-four hours, but if this was part of what he needed to conquer, he wanted it to be with Akaya.

The demon boy was about to argue, to say no because Hiyoshi was hurt, but then he said he wanted Akaya to take care of him and the older boy paused. He could tell that it was not an easy thing for Hiyoshi to say and that it was significant, but he wasn't sure why. He leaned in and stole a firm kiss. With that, he accepted Hiyoshi’s orders and let that kiss turn demanding. If Hiyoshi wanted this, he'd give it to him.

It felt so good to let himself go and entrust himself entirely to Akaya. He groaned deep in his throat and let Akaya have complete control over him. It wasn’t as hard as he’d expected it to be, maybe because this wasn’t the first time, just the first time he wasn’t making excuses for himself. Right now, he wanted to feel the pain, the death of his pride, and know Akaya was the one who took it.

He hated this. He knew Hiyoshi was in pain and he didn't like that it was partly his fault, but despite his feelings, his body was responding to his lover and he knew he was powerless to go against something Hiyoshi wanted when he asked for it seriously.

He picked Hiyoshi up as carefully as he could and carried him over to the bed before starting to strip off both of their pants. He paused his attack on the other’s mouth only to look him over again. The skin that used to be perfect and unmarred was now covered in sweat, bruises and blood and it made him furious. He hated whoever did this to his boyfriend.

It hurt when Akaya picked him up and took him to the bed, his hands pressing against the bruises on his side, but he didn’t care, instead concentrating on the kiss. He had asked for this and was waiting impatiently while Akaya slowly removed his clothing; however, when he opened his eyes and saw the way Akaya was looking down on him, he became unsure.

Reaching out, he stopped Akaya’s movements with only a touch. “Stop. What’s wrong?” No matter how much he wanted this, he could never allow it if his brat was looking at him like that.

"I don't like this..." he confessed quietly and looked over each and every bruise with worry and anger in his eyes. He knew he probably didn't stand a chance against someone who could do this to his ninja like boyfriend, but damn it, he wanted a go at it.

Hiyoshi sighed, he should have known. It had been too much to ask him to ignore his injuries. He doubted he would be able to do it if their positions were switched. Tangling his hand in Akaya’s hair, he pulled him down so he lay against an unmarred section of skin on his chest.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to. I’m probably not all that attractive at the moment anyway.” His attempt at a lame joke fell flat. “Honestly, I’m okay. I’ve just been thinking too much again, and sometimes this is the best way to get it all out. I asked for this.” He realized how unhealthy that sounded, but oh well, Akaya had unhealthy habits, too. “Sorry, I probably woke you up.”

Akaya buried his face against Hiyoshi’s chest and tried to ignore the smell of sweat and blood, which was sexy and nauseating at the same time. "You... asked to get beat all to hell?" He was worried initially then slowly realized he did the same thing when he was worried about something or thinking too much. He purposefully pissed off Sanada so he'd get a ridiculous amount of training to knock himself out. He couldn't fault Hiyoshi for this. "It's alright. I wasn't sleeping. I was just playing a game. Man... You scared me for a while there, Wakashi..." he murmured quietly and kissed that uninjured patch of skin.

“Sorry,” he whispered again. “I need to take a shower and get cleaned up. You can go to bed if you want. It’s really okay.” He had meant it earlier when he’d asked Akaya to take care of him, but he wasn’t going to force it on him. He tried to sit back up on the bed, gritting his teeth, trying not to make any noise as his body protested the movement.

"I'll take care of you." Akaya got up before helping Hiyoshi sit up slowly, "So don't worry." He chimed quietly with a little smile and carefully helped Hiyoshi toward their bathroom.

For the first time, the idea of Akaya taking care of him was such a relieving thought. He didn’t actually need his help; he knew he could take care of himself just fine, but it felt nice to lean against his brat and trust him to do it for him. Maybe that was the whole point. Trusting a majority of his weight to Akaya, he quietly let his boyfriend take the lead.

After Akaya had carefully washed and bandaged him, they settled back in for bed. He had planned on speaking with Akaya about what was on his mind, but in the end had been too content in his care to bother. He’d kept his eyes closed through the majority of it, silently enjoying the treatment. At one point he’d even admitted to himself that it had probably been a lot more enjoyable and possibly therapeutic than the sex would have been. Despite every muscle in his body aching, with Akaya loosely wrapped around him, it hadn’t taken long for sleep to claim him.

The next morning came around much sooner than expected and his alarm went off telling him it was time to get up and go to class. His sore muscles strained and he didn’t even want to chance looking in a mirror and see the result of the damage. He groaned as he moved around, trying to convince his body to obey him.

Akaya stayed snuggling up against his boyfriend with his eyes closed even though he was very much awake. "You're not going anywhere," he mumbled and reached over to turn off Hiyoshi’s alarm. "Not in that condition," he said sternly, his voice allowing no room for argument.

“Akaya…” Hiyoshi said in a warning tone. “I have to go to class.” Even if Akaya didn’t take school seriously, he did. He hated missing class for no good reason. Self-induced physical injuries were not a good reason.

"No you don't." The bratty demon argued stubbornly and stayed glued to his boyfriend. "I won't let you."

He was curious to see exactly how Akaya was planning on stopping him, but in the end just sighed and stayed put. It wasn’t worth it at the moment, and his body rather agreed with Akaya to tell the truth. He wanted to turn around so he could look at his brat of a boyfriend, but now that he had been forbidden from moving, his body was inclined to not even do that much. “Your class is in two hours, right?” Maybe he could just miss his first class and leave after Akaya.

"Yeah, I'm not going though." he mumbled and rolled onto his back to stretch some.

There went that plan, damn it. “Why not?”

"Because I have a boyfriend to take care of." he yawned.

Smiling softly, Hiyoshi managed to roll onto his back to look at him. “I think you took pretty good care of me last night.” He tangled their hands together, “By the way, thanks for that.”

Akaya smiled and looked at his boyfriend. "Yeah, but my jobs not done yet," he teased quietly.

Raising an eyebrow in question, he asked, “Oh?”

"Yeah, you can't move very well yet can you?" He said knowingly and watched Hiyoshi, "Which means there's still work to be done."

“I’ll be just fine once I get up and stretch out a bit. I’m not that weak.” He had to force patience into his voice as he said this. He knew his boyfriend was just trying to be helpful, but it still felt like he was saying he couldn’t handle it on his own.

"Just take the day off, baka." Akaya sighed frustrated, his expression turning pleading. "Let someone take care of you for once, I know you can do it yourself, but I also know if our positions were switched you'd do the same for me."

Akaya was right. If his boyfriend were in his state, he wouldn’t let him leave his sight. With that thought in mind, Hiyoshi finally gave in. “Alright, but just for today.”

"Deal," the chibi demon laughed and snuggled up to his boyfriend again with a happy sigh.

Hiyoshi finally let himself relax again, ignoring the soreness in his sides by concentrating on Akaya’s warmth. A hand tangled in Akaya’s ebony curls in their usual position. This was as good a time as any.

“I want to start heavy training again. I’ve been slacking lately and can’t allow it anymore.” He knew a lot of the soreness he felt right now wouldn’t be nearly as bad if he were in his best condition. “I’m disappointed in myself for letting my training slide so much. I used to be so focused on it, but lately all I’ve focused on is you.”

Akaya looked at him curiously and waited to see if he'd say anything else before speaking quietly, "I don't mind you training harder… I'm sorry... I didn't mean to stop you from training..."

“Don’t apologize, brat. I’m not blaming you. I’ve felt off balance lately and think that’s part of the problem. This means I’ll be going to bed and waking up earlier like I used to.” Before they started sleeping together every night and Hiyoshi had adapted himself to Akaya’s schedule. “I’ll also be attending my fraternity meets more regularly.” It meant less time with Akaya which had been why he’d stopped in the first place, but this was important and he was sure Akaya would understand that.

"That sucks... I like spending time with you… but this is something that's important to you, right?" He smiled a little and kissed Hiyoshi’s chest, "So do it."

Hiyoshi smiled and let out a grateful sigh. “Thank you.” It was very important to him, more than he’d realized, like tennis was to Akaya. Unfortunately, it had taken Natsumi being there and someone literally beating his head in to remind him.

Taking a moment, the mushroom-headed boy tried to figure out how to best word his next request. “Also, I realize I tend to put space between us and avoid subjects I’m not comfortable with. I’m working on it… but I need you to do the same.”

"Alright..." Akaya murmured and nodded before nuzzling Hiyoshi’s chest, "Anything else?" It wasn't often his boyfriend shared his concerns with him and he didn't want to stop him from saying anything he was thinking so he tried to stay as quiet as possible.

“Do you trust me?” The thought had been nagging him since Akaya had told him otherwise the night they’d run into Natsumi at the bar. Maybe Akaya had just been drunk, but he needed to know. “That night at the bar, you told me you didn’t trust me anymore…”

"Yes. I trust you, Wakashi." Akaya sat up and looked at his boyfriend, "I'm sorry for what I said. Wakashi... I was drunk, and mad. I didn't mean it... I swear."

Hiyoshi exhaled a long breath. “I can’t always tell when you’re lying. Sometimes when you’re upset you’re just as guilty as me of avoiding the problem. We both need to work on that.” He smiled a little trying to lighten the mood, “I would rather you get mad and hit me again than pretend you’re okay.”

Akaya nuzzled back into Hiyoshi’s chest and held him tight. "I know I am... and... I promise I'll work on it too. I'm sorry, Wakashi..." He murmured.

He kissed idiot boyfriend’s forehead. “There have been enough apologies. If there is anything you want to know… just ask me.”

"I love you." Akaya smiled and looked up to kiss Hiyoshi gently.

Closing his eyes, Hiyoshi lightly kissed him back with a small grin of his own. “Me, too. Now get up and get me something to eat. I’m hungry.”

Still smiling, Akaya sat up. "Yeah yeah, what do you want?"

A pompous grin spread across the martial artist’s features and he crossed his arms over his chest. “You figure it out. You’re taking care of me, right?”

"Jerk," Akaya teased and got up to get changed before heading to the door. "I'll be back in a few."

Chucking to himself, Hiyoshi nodded and closed his eyes as Akaya left, knowing in his gut that things would be better now.


	45. Chapter 45

Hiyoshi wrapped a towel around his waist as he walked out of the shower room connected to his and Akaya’s room. He had just gotten back from a nice long private workout at the gym which had lasted a few hours. It felt really good to be back on his old schedule. As he’d thought would happen, Akaya’s and his time together had been cut back, but it hadn’t seemed to affect them much. In fact, things were fairly back to normal, if not a little better than before. Except for one thing…

Other than cuddling him in his sleep and gentle kisses, Akaya hadn’t touched him since he’d been in the fight. Granted, the bruises on his skin had looked terrible and over the next few days had only grown darker, but now they were thankfully mostly faded. The fact that he went to bed before Akaya probably didn’t help either. Whatever the case, to get straight to the point, Hiyoshi was tired of waiting and wanted to fuck (or be fucked by) his boyfriend.

However, tonight was probably not the night for that. It was Halloween night and Akaya most likely had some kind of plans to go out. Putting on his pajama pants, he got into bed and opened his book, hoping to distract himself until it was time to sleep.

It was Halloween; Akaya’s favorite holiday next to Christmas and the demon boy was in heaven. His parents had called him earlier to wish him a happy Halloween and told him what their costumes were going to be. He thought his costume was awesome; Sanada-fukubuchou had seen him in it and just kind of froze, and since he and Hiyoshi were a lot a like (old men on the inside) he hoped his boyfriend would like it too.

He walked down the hall, grinning from ear to ear as his wooden sandals clacked on the floor and nearly threw open the door when he got home. "Wakashi~! I'm home!" he said happily and stood there proudly, showing off his costume.

He wore a gorgeous kimono that hung open loosely and showed off quite a bit of leg and chest, but what made his costume was that the obi was tied in the front. He was a courtesan, a traditional hooker.

“Welcome ba—“ Hiyoshi had been in the middle of turning the page but looked up when Akaya entered the room, and his eyes widened to about twice their normal size. What was Akaya wearing? He looked like a…a… He gulped down the build up in his throat and tried to breathe normally. “Akaya, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you look like a…um…” Yes, this was definitely not helping his frustration problem. Not at all.

"I'm a courtesan, duh," Akaya laughed and spun around, the kimono hugging his ass quite nicely. "Isn't it a good costume?" he asked happily and slipped off his sandals before coming over to the bed.

Hiyoshi looked him up and down a few times from head to toe trying to figure out if he fell asleep in the middle of reading. Otherwise, one of his secret fantasies had just come to life… breathing, living …and was walking toward him.

The dressed up courtesan blinked, his smile fading a little as he walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "Wakashi? You alright?" He reached out and put a hand on his boyfriend’s forehead, "You don't have a fever do you?"

The fantasy even felt real. Not able to take his eyes off him, Hiyoshi gently took the hand on his forehead into his and brought it to his lips, placing a feather light kiss on the back of it. The corner of his mouth turned up into a wicked grin, his eyes portraying exactly what he thought of Akaya’s costume. “Are you by any chance for sale?”

Akaya’s smirk returned in full force and he slid the edge of his kimono up a little, revealing more of that toned thigh. "Yeah, but I'm very expensive." He knew that look, but he'd never seen it quite that strong before and he loved it. It made him shiver and gave him goose bumps.

“Really…?” The willing buyer hand slid up that teasing toned thigh and just barely let his fingers slip just a little farther up under the material to play with delicious skin. “How expensive are we talking?”

"Hmmm, more than you can afford I bet," Akaya teased and stood up, "but if you come to the party with me I think I can give you a discount." He grinned devilishly, his plot falling happily into place.

So this was on purpose. Of course it was on purpose. Only his brat would be this cruel and dress up like one of his fantasies and then expect him to not do anything about it. He growled under his breath and grabbed onto his arm, yanking him back onto the bed and under him.

He pressed his knee up between Akaya’s legs enticingly and nipped pleasantly at his neck. “How about I get my discount first and then we go to the party?” With any luck, his insatiable boyfriend would soon forget all about it.

Akaya blinked as he suddenly found himself on his back with his lover above him, but the knee between his legs quickly distracted him. He moaned quietly and ran a hand through Hiyoshi’s hair before smirking again. "Sorry, party first if you want the discount. No matter how sexy you are."

Groaning, the frustrated boy’s head fell forward and he pouted against Akaya’s collar bone. He blamed his heightened level of sex drive completely on Akaya. This never would have been a problem just a few months ago. Sitting up on top of his boyfriend, he looked down at him trying not to be overwhelmed by the sexy picture he made under him like that. He crossed his arms over his chest and said in a serious commanding tone. “We go, we socialize, we leave.” His eyes grew darker with barely contained lust. “Then you’re mine.”

Akaya smirked and licked his lips slowly, green eyes returning that lustful stare. "Hmm, of course, master." Oh, he was definitely going to enjoy this night.

Hiyoshi nodded once and let Akaya up. “Wait… You’re not going out in public like that are you?”

 

As it turned out, despite his objections, Akaya DID go out in public like that. The night had been pure torture. He’d been forced into one of his yukata to match Akaya, though he didn’t mind so much since it was comfortable, then was pulled out into a long night of odd costumes and insane sexual frustration.

All evening, one minute his boyfriend would be a safe distance away socializing or doing whatever, then the next he would somehow be up and personal giving him teasing touches and looks as if to make up for their last week of abstinence. In the end, in a form of self preservation before he literally threw his brat down on the party floor and took him right then and there, he’d completely stiffened up and became a walking breathing statue. He’d done this a lot during middle school and high school before it had become natural.

The party was a blast. Akaya always loved giving his boyfriend a hard time and turning him on so much that he could feel the other picturing them going at it on the nearest flat surface. It was invigorating, and when they finally left the party, there was a big cocky smirk on his face. He led the way back to their room, letting his hips sway just right as he walked to make sure Hiyoshi was looking right where he wanted him to. It had been far too long since they'd had any fun.

“I hate you.” Hiyoshi said in a stiff solid tone that if anyone else had heard would have believed it, though his eyes were looking exactly where Akaya wanted him to. Damn stupid conniving brat.

"I love you, too," Akaya chimed happily and opened their door for Hiyoshi. "After you, master," he purred sexily and waited for his boyfriend to enter before following him in.

The minute the door was closed, Hiyoshi gave his boyfriend no time to enter or even take off his sandals before roughly grabbing him and shoving him up against it. “You are such a damn tease.” With that he engulfed Akaya’s mouth with his own, assaulting his mouth with no mercy. Using his weight to press their groins together and show Akaya exactly what he was doing to him.

Akaya’s smirk didn't disappear, despite being slammed up against the door, in fact, it only made it widen. He didn't have a chance to respond with anything but a moan though as he was attacked with the fierce passionate kisses. No, he definitely didn't mind this at all.

With a satisfied groan, not separating from the kiss, Hiyoshi grabbed Akaya’s ass and hefted him up until the sexy courtesan was straddling him against the door. He was tempted to take him right there, but had other plans in mind.

Playing his role of the slut quite accurately (he did have a lot of practice after all), Akaya pulled Hiyoshi as close as he could with his legs. He wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s shoulders and ground his hips against his lovers slowly, tempting him further.

Chuckling, Hiyoshi pulled them both away from the door and carried Akaya to the bed, sitting down with him in his lap. He once again ran his hand up Akaya’s thigh, mirroring what he had done earlier that evening, but unlike earlier had no intention of stopping. “Just how traditional are you? I wonder…” His boyfriend had been torturing him for hours, now it was his turn.

Akaya grinned and rolled his hips down against Hiyoshi’s, just waiting for the moment when his boyfriend realized he wasn't wearing a damn thing under the kimono.

When his hand only met more skin, Hiyoshi wasn’t surprised in the least. “Well...” Without pause, he took hold of Akaya’s erection and lightly ran his hand over it from base to tip teasingly. “You really are a little whore tonight aren’t you,” he licked at Akaya’s lips, “but I have no intention of sharing…”

"Hmm... good, because I only have one master," the highly aroused courtesan teased quietly and bit back on a hungry moan.

Hiyoshi’s smirk only widened and became more lust filled as he watched Akaya’s face. “Good… I wouldn’t want to have to punish you.” His hand movements stayed at an even teasing pace, merely lovingly, lightly caressing the sensitive skin. The kimono drooped off one of Akaya’s shoulders and Hiyoshi took the opportunity to let his lips savor that as well, enjoying himself immensely.

Akaya groaned and wiggled on top of his boyfriend, his hips rolling to meet that hand, "Nn… s-shouldn't I be the one pleasuring you? Wakashi-sama," he was definitely enjoying acting his part, there was no doubt there.

“Trust me… you will.” Gently, he lay him down on his back. The vision he made in the kimono, being held together only by the obi, falling open at the chest and legs, along with his mussed up hair, was breathtaking. Still fondling him, he slowly let his free hand explore to his hearts content, gliding over his skin, up his thighs, pinching at his chest, everywhere.

"Nn…" Akaya looked up at his boyfriend with lust hazed, but loving eyes. He thought he was going to be the one doing all the work, but somehow his costume had ignited a passion in his boyfriend he hadn't expected and he definitely wasn't complaining, "Are you just going to look all night, master?" Akaya was not known for his patience.

“Maybe. You are mine after all. I can do what I want with you.” His tongue moved slowly, just the tip of it, along the seam of Akaya’s lips before completely sealing them together, rocking his mouth against Akaya's slowly. The hand on his rather impatient member slipped farther down between his legs to tickle at the hole there.

Akaya curled a hand in his boyfriend's hair, keeping him close so he could keep kissing him, trying half-heartedly to gain some sliver of control as he spread his legs more. He didn't like being teased, but Hiyoshi was in control so he kept silent, being the good whore he was acting as.

Hiyoshi’s free hand groped on the nightstand for the familiar tube; as he tasted the fresh sweat on Akaya’s skin he thought about how damn much he needed this.

He could recognize the sound of that tube from a mile away and it made his whole body quiver with want. It was like Pavlov and his damn dogs, the lube was Akaya’s dinner bell.

Not in any hurry, he happily prepped Akaya, massaging his inner walls slowly and deeply, purposely missing his prostate. He grinned with smug satisfaction at Akaya’s shivering and barely contained attempts not to just fuck himself on his fingers. “Always the impatient one…”

He tried so hard not to impale himself on those fingers and force his lover to hit his prostate. It was torture. There was no other word to describe it. "Wakashi… sama… p-please…" He pleaded, not above begging at this point.

Feeling Akaya’s body’s restrained gyrating beneath him fueled his lust even further. “Mmm… You’re making such good sounds for me. I suppose you deserve a reward…” With practiced accuracy, he folded his fingers up just so to hit and rub at his prostate, never taking his eyes off his brat’s face.

Akaya’s eyes squeezed shut and he moaned as he arched up off the bed. "F-fuck…" he purred. That was more like it.

Kissing down the side of his courtesan’s face, Hiyoshi graced over that spot a few more times, just hard enough to feel and hear Akaya’s reaction without giving him true satisfaction, then completely removed his fingers to quickly coat his own erect disregarded need. A side of him was a bit worried about Akaya’s costume becoming stained, but at this point he really couldn’t care. His boyfriend was just too alluring like this, spread out beneath him, kimono fanned out around him, failing at any kind of modesty.

So close. His body was aching and felt so empty and he looked up at Hiyoshi through his long lashes, a couple strands of curly black hair falling over his eyes only helped to add to the needy look he wore so openly.

Damn, but Akaya made such a good little whore. Most of his own restraint gone, he pushed into his prepared opening, wanting to go slow but failing in the face of his own need to get closer and lose himself in his lover. His breath caught in his throat as he entered him, his body having been craving this from their bout of abstinence and Akaya’s relentless teasing over the last few hours.

Akaya bit his lip and purred contently as he was finally filled. It stung just the way he liked it and he wrapped his legs around Hiyoshi to pull him in closer demandingly. He wasn't the most patient of whores...

If he hadn’t been so distracted, he would have laughed at Akaya’s impatience. Managing a small breathless chuckle, he gave into the courtesan’s demands and started for lack of a better phrase, pounding him into the mattress with little to no mercy.

He loved it when Hiyoshi gave in to his desires and just screwed him senseless. It was one of the greatest feelings in the world and he let the other know it with the pleased moans that came from nearly every thrust.

Harder, he wanted to go harder until he couldn’t take it anymore. He held him close and it was so good, wordlessly good, and his back arched, pushing in even deeper. He felt strong, felt so good to be on top of him, to be making him moan and gasp with every thrust, good to watch his love be so hot and open and helplessly needy, good to know that it was him that made him feel that way.

"Wakashi..." Akaya whimpered and dragged his nails down Hiyoshi’s skin, trying to find something to ground himself. "I love you..." he breathed out to the other, green eyes fixed on his lover’s eyes.

Hiyoshi moaned his reply and changed their position slightly so he could push in even deeper. Even the nails in his skin felt amazingly good.

When he finally couldn’t take it anymore, his body arched into Akaya’s, going taut as he released into him. Spikes of pleasure shot up his spine and he sought out Akaya’s lips; forcing his brat into a hard, almost violent, moan-filled kiss as he road out his orgasm.

He wasn't quite there yet, but that kiss was just enough to close the gap. Akaya clamped down around Hiyoshi, pulling the others release from him greedily as his own spilled over him.

Breathing hard, Hiyoshi’s body slumped down onto Akaya’s, forcing him to break the kiss. He laid tiny kisses on his chest, breathing in their mixed scents and feeling completely sated and satisfied. He would have felt bad for coming early, but since it was wholly Akaya’s fault, he felt no need to vocalize his apologies. “Mmm…” his body was still shivering with the aftermath. “Courtesans aren’t supposed to fall in love with their benefactors.”

"Most..." he breathed out with a small smile, "don't have benefactors like you..."

Hiyoshi chuckled against Akaya’s chest. “I have a feeling you would make me go broke.”

Akaya smirked. "Definitely," he laughed and held his lover close.

With a sigh and small groan, Hiyoshi left the embrace just long enough to pull out of Akaya before once again settling on top of him in his arms. “For example… It would be very foolish of you to think I’m done with you this evening.” He nuzzled into Akaya’s neck, “I think I should be paid up for at least another hour… or two.”

The insatiable courtesan grinned from ear to ear. "Oh? Hm, well I suppose you are a good customer... That's a big discount so you better be grateful..."

Sliding his body up Akaya’s, their smiling lips met. “Trust me. I am.”

Akaya grinned more and kissed his boyfriend soundly. "Pervert."


	46. Chapter 46

Hiyoshi woke from his deep heaven sent slumber when the pair of arms draped around him squeezed him closer to a warm muscular chest. Usually this would not have been enough to fully wake such a heavy sleeper as him, but the light from the window shown through the curtains at just the right angle to shine directly at him in the most annoying way. Sleepily, he contemplated opening his eyes to check the time and see if he should attempt getting up, but quickly vetoed the idea. Groaning in sleepy irritation, he turned his body so his head was now buried in the hard pectoral muscles of his cuddly boyfriend. He was much too comfortable to move any time soon. Besides, he vaguely remembered thinking last night that today was not a day to get out of bed, though at the moment he couldn’t remember why.

Akaya felt his lover move in his arms and smiled a bit before virtually pouncing on the still technically younger man. "Good morning, Wakashi~!" He chimed happily and kissed him, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY~!!"

His comfy pillow was now smothering him. “Ugh… What..? Oh...” That was why he’d decided not to wake up today. Maybe he could feign still being asleep. Never opening his eyes, he made his body fall back again in a sleep like state. This was one thing he was good at pretending since he didn’t really need to pretend at all.

"Hey! Don't pretend to be asleep!" Akaya pouted and nipped Hiyoshi’s ear. He wanted his boyfriend to be happy and enjoy his birthday, but he couldn't do that if he was asleep.

Hiyoshi’s lips turned up in a half smile at the attention but still grumbled out as grumpily as he could muster, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t?” Sleep was a perfectly acceptable way to spend his birthday and he’d done so on many occasions.

"Because it's your birthday!" The happy demon explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Who didn't love their birthday?!

Akaya said that so decisively that Hiyoshi didn’t know if he had the heart to tell him that was the worst reason in the world to get out of bed. With a sigh, he blearily blinked open his eyes and looked up at his boyfriend with a sleepy worn out expression and yawned.

"Good morning," Akaya chuckled and kissed Hiyoshi warmly, "Did you sleep well?"

“Mm-hmm…” The sleepy man muffled into warm skin. He had slept very well the previous night after such a long week. It was nearing the end of the semester and he’d been overwhelmed lately with school work, training, and preparing for exams. There had been a lot of activity going on at the fraternity as well, getting ready for the end of the year festivities as well as discussions with the president about possibly taking over his position after he graduated the following year. It was nice to just lay there with his boyfriend and remember he had a life outside of responsibilities.

"Good," Akaya hummed happily. He could tell Hiyoshi had been stressed lately. He'd been scowling in his sleep and knew that was never a good sign. "So what do you want to do before the party?" he asked merrily. December always seemed to put him in a good mood, no matter what the situation.

In general, Hiyoshi hated December, and not just because it was his birthday month. Too much music, too many people out and about, and damn it, it was cold. “MmMmmMm,” was his intellectual reply to Akaya’s question. They had made plans to go to Akaya’s parents later, but other than that, he had no idea what kind of birthday plans Akaya had in mind since he never bothered to make any.

"...In Japanese, Wakashi," Akaya laughed and kissed his boyfriend's nose affectionately.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Sleep. Quiet. Akaya.” he mumbled and snuggled in closer to the warmth and closed his eyes again. Yeah, he would never be a morning person.

"Eh?! No, no sleep. It's time to get up and do stuff! Oh oh! Here! I was going to save it for the party but..." The excited boyfriend crawled over to the edge of the bed and hung half off of it to grab something out from under the bed. He sat back up holding a small but long wrapped tube and a big wrapped but somewhat flat box. His grin grew huge and he crawled back over to Hiyoshi. "Presents!" he exclaimed as if it wasn't obvious.

Hiyoshi was about to point out that he should be able to do what he wanted on HIS birthday when the gifts were presented to him. He hadn’t gotten Akaya anything for his birthday and hadn’t expected anything for his. Ugh… It was too early in the morning to feel guilty. Looking over the presents with trepidation, he finally forced himself into a sitting position. “Really… you didn’t need to get me anything…”

"I know. I wanted to." Akaya offered him the small box first. "Open 'em." He sat cross-legged in front of Hiyoshi with the long tube held across his lap while he waited for Hiyoshi to open the ornately wrapped box that his mother had helped him with.

Knowing better than to argue, Hiyoshi took the smaller package from Akaya. Examining it first with a quizzical eye, he asked with a knowing smirk. “Who helped you?”

"Shut up and open it," Akaya half glared at him.

Snickering, he opened it very slowly, mindful of the careful wrapping, purposely to drive his boyfriend nuts of course.

It was a Kubotan, a self-defense weapon meant to be placed surreptitiously on a keychain. It was about 5.5 inches long and .5 inches in diameter; only slightly thicker or the same size as a marker pen. Hiyoshi had never used one before. As far as he knew, they were mainly used by police officers, but it was an interesting gift and he liked it.

Lips curving into a small smile, he looked up from his gift to Akaya. “Thank you,” he leaned forward to kiss him quickly then took it out of the box and held it properly in his hand, his smirk grew. “Are you certain you want to give me this though?”

"Not really," Akaya said honestly, but wore a large smile, happy the other man liked it, "but there’s more in there, look under the wrapping paper," he grinned and looked like a little kid on Christmas even though he wasn’t the one receiving the present. Under the paper he'd hidden 5 different sizes of shuriken, all black with red lining and red tips. He was glad Sanada had helped him pick things out, even though the older man had bitched the whole time. It was fun getting to watch him look like a kid in Toys R Us at the weapons store. Prying him away from the swords had been torture. At least he knew what to get his fukubuchou for Christmas now.

Hiyoshi looked under the wrapping and found the shuriken, getting a mischievous happy sparkle in his eyes as one hand reached forward to softly caress the comforting steel. Not having words, he took hold of Akaya’s arm and pulled him closer, kissing his forehead, then trailing his lips down his cheek. Still holding his Kubotan, he traced it over Akaya’s chest.

“Did you know… in the past, this weapon was utilized by officers of the law, most notably to break the will of unruly suspects while interrogating them?” He traced it over Akaya’s body as he explained in a low amused tone. “It’s extremely effective by making quick and painful strikes to pressure points and specific nerve targets such as the knuckles, bridge of the nose, stomach, solar plexus, temple, ribs, groin, neck, eyes…” He snickered, “It’s been dubbed by some as the “Instrument of Attitude Adjustment”.”

Akaya’s eyes went wide because suddenly he understood why Sanada had suggested that weapon with a little smirk on his face. He really needed to read up on things before buying them. He shivered, "O-oh... I see…" he laughed nervously.

Hiyoshi chuckled darkly. “Perhaps I’ll get to try it out sometime to see how effective it is.” He kissed Akaya soundly, enjoying his taste for a moment before letting go of him and moving his attention to the much larger gift. “Any second thoughts before I open this one?”

His heart pounding a bit from the kiss, Akaya grinned and handed the large flat box to Hiyoshi, a little nervous the other man wouldn't like it. "Nah, go ahead. Though I think I will wait over here..." he mumbled and inched back off the bed so he was at a safe distance, just in case.

Resisting the urge to laugh out loud, he let Akaya move away as he again unhurriedly opened his other present. It was rather long; almost 70 inches or so would be his guess. Carefully, he opened the side of it and took hold of the long crafted staff and pulled it out.

He was confused at first, then surprised when he realized he was holding a traditional samurai’s Naginata sword. They had been used by shrine priests originally to fend off invaders, then later by samurai on horseback. Inspecting the thick blade, he noticed it was actually quite well crafted with an intricate Japanese dragon design on the steel. His own style was an Okinawan martial art with original ties to China and its weapons were based off what farmers would use to combat invading samurai, very different from this type of weapon.

Akaya watched his boyfriend with bated breath, hoping the other man liked the ridiculously expensive weapon that even Sanada was fanboying over. "....Whaddaya think?" He asked quietly, hoping that pretty weapon was not going to end up through his chest or something. Oh, who was he kidding, Hiyoshi would be helpless without him, he wouldn't kill him, at least not over something like this, at least he hoped not.

This would be his first weapon not based on his own style of art and was rather impressed with Akaya’s choice; though he was sure he must have had help. “Thank you… It’s beautiful,” he said with awe, finally pulling his gaze away from his new toy to look at his boyfriend with a smile free of its usual cynicism. He placed the present to the side and leaned back on the bed. “Get over here.”

Akaya grinned and jumped onto the bed to crawl over to his boyfriend, proud of himself for putting that smile on his boyfriend’s face.

His brat must have put a lot of thought into it to get him such excellent gifts. Hiyoshi didn’t know how to tell him with words just how much the effort meant to him, so he just continued to smile at him and took his hand.

Akaya smiled and leaned in to steal a kiss for all his effort. Hiyoshi didn't need to say anything; he already knew the other appreciated it. The smile was enough evidence of that.

“I suppose we should get up and get some breakfast,” Hiyoshi suggested after a moment, knowing Akaya was probably hungry. “Then we can come back and get ready to go to your parent’s house.”

As if on cue, Akaya’s stomach gave a loud agreement to that statement and he flushed a bit before laughing, "Alright."

Hiyoshi chuckled and stood up from the bed, using their clasped hands to bring Akaya up with him. He wondered what kind of surprise lay in store for him at the Kirihara residence for his birthday. He realized for the first time that he wasn’t feeling any dread or need to escape. It was starting to feel more like he was going home.


	47. Chapter 47

Over winter break Hiyoshi had to at least make an appearance at home to appease he parents. The trip had been as boring as usual; the only exception being when his brother had joined them, but it hadn’t been a bad trip. Still, after being away for a few days, he was more than glad to be going back to his other home and boyfriend.

Hiyoshi had barely opened the door when Akaya leapt onto him. "Welcome home!!!" He chimed happily and nuzzled his boyfriend, "I missed you!"

Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around his brat and brought them the rest of the way into the room. “I’m home,” he replied, ruffling his hair affectionately. He leaned in to kiss him, but stopped a hair’s breath away, distracted by something out of the corner of his eye. He took in the state of the room and raised a curious eyebrow at the unfamiliar, rather shiny sight. Their room was covered in bright lights and there was the faint sound of cheesy Christmas music coming from the CD player. “Akaya… what have you done to our room?”

Akaya blinked and looked at Hiyoshi, "Whaddaya mean?" he asked and looked around, a little pissed he didn’t get his kiss yet. "Oh, you mean the decorations?" He'd made the place look as Christmasy as he could, excited for the coming holiday. It was his favorite holiday after all.

Hiyoshi sweat dropped and wondered if this was the kind of decorating that gave normal sane people seizures. “You don’t think you over did it just a little? …And why are those plants hanging from the ceiling?”

"No way!" Akaya cried reprovingly and pulled Hiyoshi under the plant before kissing him soundly. "It's mistletoe." He smirked evilly.

Of course it was. “Great, as if you need any more excuses.” Hiyoshi chuckled and kissed him once more before pulling away to put down his heavy bag and start unpacking. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

"Not really, though fukubuchou learned the hard way that I have mistletoe," the chibi demon laughed and flopped down on the edge of the bed to watch his boyfriend.

Hiyoshi’s nose wrinkled in disgust and he turned to his boyfriend with a disturbed look. “I feel like I should go wash my mouth out now. Haven’t I told you there are some things that don’t need to be mentioned?”

"Don't worry, I brushed my teeth after and all that," Akaya snickered before sticking out his tongue teasingly.

Akaya kissing Sanada under the mistletoe wasn’t what disturbed him; it was the thought of ANYONE kissing Sanada at all. Rolling his eyes, Hiyoshi tossed some of his belonging in Akaya’s direction. “Make yourself helpful, brat.”

"Unpack later," Akaya commanded like a spoiled kid who wanted his way and set Hiyoshi’s things aside. "Play with me instead. I've been bored without ya here." He laid back a bit and smirked sexily, nothing innocent about him at the moment at all.

“You know if I let you distract me now, it won’t get done. It won’t take long.” The much more mature of them replied without looking back, trying to figure out how to get to one of his drawers through a tangle of Christmas lights.

Akaya pouted but just laid back and waited for his boyfriend to be done.

It took Hiyoshi a bit longer than he thought since he was trying to work around Akaya’s decorating, but once he was done, he turned and made his way to the bed with a satisfied grin. Crawling on top of him on hands and knees, he looked down with an amused grin. “There, now you have my full undivided attention.”

Akaya by then had closed his eyes and was pretending to be asleep.

“Hmm… Apparently I’ve missed my chance. I suppose I’ll just have to help myself then.” Amused at the total lack of response, Hiyoshi leaned down and began nipping and nuzzling all around his boyfriend’s neck, taking special care to give attention to the areas he knew Akaya liked. He also snuck a hand up under Akaya’s shirt, tickling the warm muscled skin under it.

Akaya wasn't able to keep up the charade long before he was moaning and writhing under Hiyoshi’s touch with a laugh.

“It seems you’ve decided to join me after all.” The triumphant mushroom-headed boy chuckled and ran a hand through Akaya’s hair, nipping at his nose.

Akaya grinned up at his boyfriend and stuck his tongue out at him. “That's cheating."

Hiyoshi smirked down at him. "How so?"

"You tickled me," he laughed and wrapped himself around his boyfriend.

"Would I do something like that?" The mock serious tone was accompanied with a raised eyebrow. He looked at their current positioning and tried to move to do it again. "Hmm… I would test the theory but I seem to be sufficiently trapped at the moment." He glared at him accusingly.

"Good, I have you right where I want you," Akaya laughed again and kissed his boyfriend, not letting the other get out of his iron grip for fear of more tickling. Not to mention he was rather warm and cozy.

Hiyoshi let himself fall completely into his boyfriend’s kiss and his body relaxed on top of him. It was comfortable and he would have quite contentedly stayed as they were for as long as Akaya liked.

After a few moments more of their cozy make out session, the cheery Christmas tune in the background changed abruptly to a slower melodious tune, giving Hiyoshi an idea. He slowly pulled his lips away from Akaya’s and looked at him questioningly, wondering how Akaya would react to the idea. “Would you like to learn to dance?”

Akaya blinked up at Hiyoshi with wide innocent eyes with that 'wait what?' look in them. "Eh?" he voiced curiously and stared at his boyfriend. Who was this guy and what had he done with his Wakashi?

Hiyoshi immediately blushed and looked away at the look Akaya was giving him, making him feel like an idiot. Of course it was weird for guys to like dancing… and even weirder for two guys to dance together. “Never mind. It was a stupid idea,” he said in a gruff voice while getting off him.

The demon boy latched back onto his boyfriend and pulled him back against him. "You want to dance with me?" he asked quietly, a smile creeping onto his face.

“No.” Hiyoshi replied automatically, embarrassed. Then he caught site of Akaya’s look and his tone changed slightly, “Maybe… but only if you want to.”

"Yeah!" Akaya replied with excitement and hugged Hiyoshi close. "Of course I want to!" Wakashi wanted to dance with him! HIM! Not that damn--what's her face's name I know it starts with an N!

A small smile crept back into Hiyoshi’s features and without words he stood, bringing Akaya with him. He pushed the clutter that had piled since he’d been gone to the side and tried to figure out the best way to instruct him. He’d never tried teaching someone how to dance before and was a little nervous about looking ridiculous in front of his boyfriend.

Adopting the tone he usually used for instructing children at the dojo, he quickly explained. “The basic waltz moves in the form of a box. The man starts by stepping forward with his left foot and the woman counters by stepping back with her right. Here… Let me show you.” Taking a few steps back from Akaya, he started the basic steps so Akaya could easily see what he was talking about.

“So... Who's the man then?" Akaya asked curiously, mimicking the steps and staring at his feet to make sure he was doing the same thing Hiyoshi was. It reminded him of when he was first learning tennis and had to mimic his teacher’s arm movements.

“I am.” Hiyoshi placed one of Akaya’s hands on his shoulder and took the other in his, whispering teasing words reminiscent of one’s Akaya had used less than a year prior. “You're not leading your first time. It’s good for you to know what it feels like to follow before you lead.” He pulled him closer and continued in an amused voice, “You just have to trust me and I'll teach you everything."

Akaya flushed and smiled at him. "Yes, sir," he teased right back and met Hiyoshi’s eyes. "So what's next, sensei?"

He wanted to kiss him, but was in teacher mode now and would not let himself be distracted. “Now we practice the steps. I’ll guide you, so don’t worry if you make a mistake.” Disregarding the music for now, he gently squeezed Akaya’s side and coaxed him to slowly follow his movements, quietly counting the beats out loud. “One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three…”

Akaya followed his movements, feeling a bit weird that they were dancing to no music, but he was pressed up against Hiyoshi so he had nothing to complain about.

Once he felt Akaya was comfortable with the steps, Hiyoshi stepped away for a moment to look at the CD Akaya was playing. Looking through the collection of songs, he found “The Christmas Waltz”. “This should work,” he mumbled and forwarded to the correct track.

Going back over to Akaya as the music started, he resumed their previous position. “Ready? Try not to kill my feet too badly.”

Akaya hadn't felt nervous dancing in a long time, but now his heart was thudding loudly and he felt like his hands were getting clammy. "Yeah yeah," he mumbled and stared down at his feet, trying to make sure he didn't mess up.

Chuckling, Hiyoshi lifted Akaya’s chin. “Look at me.” He placed a quick small kiss on his lips. “Don’t worry,” he smirked, “even if you fail, I’m used to you falling all over me.” Without giving him a chance to respond, he took Akaya’s waist again and started to lead him around the room in an easy slow waltz.

The ballroom dancing newbie managed to follow Hiyoshi’s lead and only step on his toes a couple times, though his eyes found their way back to his feet after not too long.

“Stop looking at your feet, brat.”

"But it's hard," he pouted.

Hiyoshi thought about it for a moment. “Close your eyes.”

"Eh?" Akaya blinked, "Are you crazy?"

Hiyoshi sighed. “Do you trust me or not? I could blindfold you if you'd prefer."

Akaya frowned a little then finally closed his eyes. "This is fine..."

Hiyoshi smiled as Akaya did as told and leaned in closer to say calmly in his ear. “Don’t think so much about what you’re doing. You already know the steps. Just relax and let your body follow mine. If you make a mistake, it’s because my body isn’t being clear enough.”

"Alright..." A little nervous, Akaya swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He was determined to do his best.

After that, Akaya seemed to do much better. He had definitely gotten down the basic steps but still seemed tense for some reason. Not following to proper form, but not really caring, Hiyoshi leaned in to nuzzle into Akaya’s neck, making him stumble.

Akaya flushed but smiled a bit. "I think I still like my style of dancing better," he teased quietly, "It’s a lot easier..."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes and pulled away far enough to twirl him around in a make-shift turn. “You just haven’t gotten to the fun part yet,” he grinned, just glad that Akaya was willing to do this with him at all. “But we can stop now if you’d like.” The music had changed to some other song that wasn’t right for waltz, but he kept them moving around the room anyway, enjoying the moment.

Akaya smiled as he was spun around and finally opened his eyes. "I guess this isn't so bad..." he murmured and pressed against Hiyoshi again, "let’s keep going."

“Alright,” Hiyoshi answered pleased. He led them around not really to any specific beat, spinning him randomly and into different moves that Akaya wouldn’t understand but it was enjoyable all the same. After the current song ended, the music changed to another three step beat so Hiyoshi again brought them back into the traditional position and attempted a couple of the moves again, this time with the music. It was by no means perfect, but he was enjoying himself immensely.

Akaya confessed he wasn't good at this by any means as he kept tripping over both of their feet, but he was laughing and having a great time. Maybe other types of dancing could be just as much fun as his after all.

As the song came to its end, Hiyoshi bent Akaya over backwards in a mock dip. Forgetting for a moment that he was used to having much smaller partners and underestimating how much Akaya weighed, they both ended up on the floor laughing.

“You weigh too much,” Hiyoshi pointed out on top of him.

Akaya stuck his tongue out at him. "It's not my fault. You just need to do more training."

Hiyoshi glared and threateningly pinned Akaya down, thinking up various ways of torture to get back at him for that particular comment. “Who needs to do more training?”

The bratty demon smirked right back up at him, not needing to answer because that cocky ‘bring it on’ smirk did it for him.

“Akaya…” the competitive martial artist growled, considering his options. There were very few things he could actually threaten the brat with that wouldn’t affect him as well. Then he thought of a way to quite efficiently and directly show his boyfriend just how strong he was. Slowly his glare turned into a devious haughty expression. “Hmm, I’m actually quite comfortable here…”

Akaya raised an eyebrow at Hiyoshi, trying to figure out his devious plan. When he didn't get any hints and Hiyoshi didn't do anything he tried to push his boyfriend off him and get up, but found he couldn't budge an inch. Well... shit.

Hiyoshi was actually fairly comfortable. His legs and arms had completely trapped Akaya’s and his head was now nestled in the crook of his neck. If he hadn’t been using a good amount of strength to keep his boyfriend from moving, he might have been able to fall asleep.

"Get offa me," Akaya pouted and tried to move again, only to have his ninja boyfriend’s ridiculous muscles keep him in place.

It really was amusing how impatient his boyfriend was. Boredom did funny things to Akaya’s head. Keeping himself amused, Hiyoshi started lazily tasting the small patch of skin nearest to him, which just happened to be right below his brat’s ear. He knew it would drive his boyfriend nuts, not being able to move or reciprocate in any way.

Akaya flailed a little under him, loving the attention, but hating Hiyoshi’s devious plot. "W-Wakashi…" he whined and wriggled under him trying to get away.

“Yes, love?” Hiyoshi all but snickered back, still not letting him move a centimeter and starting to become rather fond of that one spot.

"G-get off of meeeeeee," the seaweed-headed boy moaned and turned his head to try and hide that spot from Hiyoshi. His boyfriend was an evil bastard when he wanted to be. Akaya blamed Hyotei for that. Rikkai people were all nice. Damn it... Stupid Hyotei rich kids.

Despite Akaya’s futile efforts, Hiyoshi gave that lovely patch of skin one last good round of attention. There was definitely going to be nice little reminder from him there for the next couple days.

Believing his point to be made, he finally lifted himself off Akaya and looked down at his boyfriend who was still lying on the floor and crossed his arms over his chest in smug triumph.

As soon as he was free, Akaya’s hand immediately came up to protect that spot from any further attacks and he half glared up at his boyfriend.

Hiyoshi just rolled his eyes at him and walked away, leaving him to glare from the floor all he wanted. The music had long since run out, so he went to the player to carefully put the CD away. He’d never been a fan of Christmas music, but he had a feeling this particular CD would be one he’d be listening to a lot in the future. After that, he took a minute to half tidy up the place. Akaya was not a terribly clean roommate and he hadn’t been there for the last couple days to keep it under control. He raised an eyebrow down at his flush-cheeked boyfriend who was still sitting on the floor watching him. “Do you plan on gawking at me from down there for the rest of the evening?”

"Maybe," Akaya answered from where he was now comfortably leaning back against the bed, watching his slightly obsessive compulsive roommate. "Our floor is pretty comfy," he smiled.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes again and finished clearing out most of the clutter, only leaving Akaya’s video game area alone since he knew better than to mess with Akaya’s non-existent organization of it. “Oh, before I forget. I have to leave again the day after tomorrow, but I’ll only be gone for one night. My father wants me to go to Singapore.” He didn’t think he had to explain why.

There was plenty of organization to his games and Akaya was always glad when his boyfriend left that area alone. The one and only time Wakashi had fixed it Akaya hadn't been able to find a damn thing. "What? But… that's Christmas..." Akaya frowned at his boyfriend, that jealous twang in his chest coming back full force.

“Even if I’m not serious about my engagement to Natsumi, my father is, and I can’t get out of it.” Though he knew Christmas was the most important date day for couples, he really hoped this wouldn’t be a big deal. “You can go see your family and we can celebrate Christmas together when I get back, right?”

Akaya looked down at the floor, not wanting to look at Hiyoshi. He wasn't going home, he didn't want to. He knew he'd have to endure far too many questions about his boyfriend and he didn't want to deal with it by himself. "Yeah... Yeah that's fine."

Hiyoshi let out a sigh of relief and held out his hand to help Akaya up off the floor. “Thanks for understanding.”

"Yeah," He smiled a little and took the hand, "But you owe me."

Nodding in acceptance, Hiyoshi kissed his brat, silently thanking him again as they sunk down onto the bed. Hiyoshi pulled away after a long moment. “I’m sure I can find a way to make it up to you.”

Akaya moaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi, a little cocky smirk finding its way to his lips. "Hmm, well get to work then," he teased and gave Hiyoshi’s hair a gentle tug, urging him in for another kiss.


	48. Chapter 48

The plan was to fly to Singapore Christmas Eve morning and be back late the following evening. If Akaya had been sad about him leaving, he'd done a very good job of hiding it. At first Hiyoshi had thought his boyfriend just accepted it, but something about the way he'd said goodbye left a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The well seasoned flyer had never minded traveling, had flown for many hours on multiple occasions, but nevertheless his stomach had been in knots since the moment the plane took off. The flight was seven and a half miserable hours long.

The moment the plane touched ground and he could use his cell phone, he'd given Akaya's a call. The fact that it'd gone straight to voice mail wasn't anything out of the usual. Akaya constantly forgot to charge his phone, but still…

Knowing he was probably being ridiculous, he'd forced himself to set his worries aside and met Natsumi at the pick up area. He couldn’t remember her ever being so angry with him before, in public anyway. The moment she saw him, she'd let him have it.

"What the hell are you thinking?! Leaving your boyfriend alone! I can just imagine poor Kirihara-san all alone on Christmas… I thought you'd grown a heart somehow over the last year! You are turning around right now mister and…" blah blah blah blah… He got the point. He'd been an idiot and he knew it, but Akaya was probably with his family right now so it was fine... right?  
He abruptly covered Natsumi's mouth to stop her shrieking as he whipped out his phone again to call Akaya's mother.

"Akaya? What do you mean, sweetie? Isn't he with you?" Akaya's mother said as she washed a few dishes and watched her husband make an idiot of himself in the living room, dancing and singing to some old American movie, a gentle smile on her lips.

Hiyoshi's eyes widened and his fists clenched. "Never mind," he bit out. "Thank you for your time. I'll take care of it. Merry Christmas, Momma." Shit.

The older woman smiled. "Merry Christmas, Wakashi," she said sweetly and hung up to tease her husband for his singing skills, a little worried about her boys, but knowing they'd sort it out.

Natsumi looked caught between giving him a knowing look and laughing at him. He wanted to throttle her. The minute he was off the phone, he walked towards the ticket counter, cursing Akaya's name under his breath while at the same time praying there were seats still available to get back home.

\---

When Hiyoshi left, Akaya had immediately gone to his senpai for comfort. Having not found most of his more compassionate senpai, he finally turned to the only person he knew would be there no matter what.

Almost every room was empty, everyone having gone home for the holidays or out with their loved ones, except one. Sanada sat with his kohai at his side, the smaller form crying and all around looking like a train wreck. Sanada had one hand on Akaya's head and was glad his lover had gone out for a while to get away from the seaweed headed baby.

Sanada was not thrilled to see his distraught kohai on Christmas but of course let him in. He tried his best to comfort him, his eye twitching in irritation most of the time because today was his day dedicated to his lover that he barely ever saw. His eyes continually flicked to the clock as Akaya whined on about Hiyoshi's latest offense and frowned, they needed to leave soon to make their dinner plans.

\---

It had taken a lot more effort than Hiyoshi would have liked to get back. He'd had to pull a few strings and drop a few names that he would have really rather not and had to buy a first class ticket to get back since everything else was full. By the time he finally made it back on campus it was already past dark. Akaya still wasn't answering his phone, and when he got back to their room to find him not there he almost pushed over his book case in anger and frustration.

It was Christmas Eve and the last thing he wanted to do was barge in on people in their rooms that wanted privacy, but… damn it! Akaya was such a fucking pain in the ass. Rushing out of the room again, he started towards all the rooms of people Akaya might have gone to.

Finally he went to the last place he wanted to look, but in all reality he should have checked there first. Akaya's senpai were whom he would have gone to, but if Akaya wasn't with them… he didn't want to think about what they would do to him. He hated these ridiculous unreasonable Rikkai people.

Figuring Sanada-san would be the easiest since they already had a kinda sorta understanding, he went to his room first. Though he was sure he could take the older Kendo artist in a regular fight, he knocked tentatively on the door praying to whatever Christmas deity/spirit/whatever that the older man wouldn't attempt murder… or demand laps.

The knock on the door made Sanada's ears perk up in hope. "Come in," he said with a tired sounding voice, praying to whatever Christmas deity there was that the person at the door was Hiyoshi. If it wasn't, the person better run for the hills because he was going to throw Akaya at them.

Opening the door, bracing for the inevitable, Hiyoshi quietly let himself in while asking, "Sorry to disturb you Sanada-san, have you see—"

It was a Christmas miracle! As soon as Sanada saw Hiyoshi, he threw Akaya over his shoulder and was on his feet. He walked up to the other man, looking pissed off and cranky and before   
Hiyoshi could even finish his sentence he'd dropped Akaya into Hiyoshi's arms. "I don't care what the hell happened, I don't give a shit what your excuse is, take him and get the hell out," he snapped and brushed past Hiyoshi on his way out to find his lover.

Not entirely prepared for Akaya's heavy form to be literally dropped on top of him, Hiyoshi stumbled back against the wall and tried not to drop him. "Thank you," he said with barely contained sarcasm to Sanada's retreating back before sighing and focusing on the crying brat in his arms.

Akaya blinked in surprise at being picked up so abruptly and started crying about how he was now hallucinating and hearing Hiyoshi's voice. When he found himself in familiar arms though his crying stopped and he just stared at his lover. "Wakashi?"

"You're a pain in the ass and an idiot, you know that?" The pissed off martial artist stated crossly and glared tiredly at him.

"You're really here?" Akaya said with a surprised wibble in his voice. "Y-you're supposed to be in Singapore..." He clung to his boyfriend tightly and nuzzled his face against his shoulder. "Idiot..."

Hiyoshi set his boyfriend more securely on his feet and continued to glare at him angrily. "Of course I'm here! And I guess I am a fucking idiot! After I called your mother who said you weren't there, Natsumi kicked me out of the country. I did something I swore I would never do and spent a fortune in order to get back here, so you damn well better stop crying and be happy!" If Atobe ever found out he used his name as a connection, his smug ex-buchou would never let him hear the end of it.

Akaya stared at Hiyoshi and blinked a couple times, taking in everything he just heard. "You... did all that... for me?" He made a mental note to thank Natsumi. "Wakashi..." he wibbled again and clung to his boyfriend with renewed vigor.

Hiyoshi fell back against the wall as once again all of Akaya's weight landed on him. Damn it, he was too tired for this. One hand smacked against his forehead in exasperation while the other ran up Akaya's back in an attempt to sooth him. "Come on, brat. Let's go home."

Akaya nodded, but made no attempt to move away from Hiyoshi or start toward the door. For all he cared, they could stand right there all night. He had Hiyoshi and that was enough.

If they stayed here and Sanada found them, the older kendo master would kill him. "Did you already eat?" He really didn't want to have to push the brat off him but didn't want to carry him all the way back to their room either, though he supposed he was used to it.

Akaya shook his head and leaned back a little to look at Hiyoshi. "No… Fukubuchou said if I'm hungry to get the hell out and get something to eat far away from him," he mumbled and smiled just a little.

Hiyoshi shook his head, wondering why Sanada was who Akaya would choose to go to for support. …Support he wouldn't had needed if Akaya had just been honest with him in the first place. "We can get some KFC to go or something." The line would be atrocious but that was where common people went for Christmas dinner, or so he'd been told.

Akaya smiled a bit more and laughed quietly. "KFC sounds good," he said and rubbed at his red eyes a bit.

"Let's go then." He pulled Akaya's hand away from his eyes since rubbing them would just make them worse. He already was going to feel self conscious walking around outside on Christmas Eve with his boyfriend. Him looking like he'd been crying his eyes out for the last couple hours wasn't going to help.

Lacing his fingers with Hiyoshi's, Akaya was just glad the other was there and happy to be getting KFC. He'd never seen his boyfriend eat something as 'commoner-like' as that for a holiday and it was something he couldn't help but find amusing.

As expected, the line was insanely long, but at least it moved fast and the building was right outside of campus so they didn't have to go far. Still, it took almost an hour to buy their food and get back to their room. It wasn't much a of a Christmas dinner in Hiyoshi's opinion; a few pieces of fried chicken, french fries, and a couple of biscuits, but Akaya looked happy and that's all that really mattered.

Upon entering, Hiyoshi noticed the room lights had been turned off, but the Christmas lights were still on, casting the entire room in a very colorful glow. There were so many of them, it wasn't even worth turning the lights on.

Akaya already had a piece of chicken hanging out of his mouth by the time they got to their room and was grinning around it. The stress and sadness of earlier long gone and replaced with grease and Wakashi induced happiness.

Too tired to go back out and get real plates from the communal kitcen, they settled on the bed and ate right out of the box. Hiyoshi's head tiredly sunk down onto Akaya's shoulder as he snacked on french fries. Every once in a while he could hear laughing and partying going on from somewhere, but was more than content right where he was. Usually the outside sounds of rowdy neighbors and party goers would have annoyed him, but somehow right then the far off sounds and Christmas music added to the atmosphere of their quiet brightly lit Christmas dinner.

Akaya munched happily, content just to have Hiyoshi there, even if they weren't doing anything but sitting and eating. He rested his head against Hiyoshi's and just listened to all the sounds, taking in the Christmas joy from afar.

A small slice of raspberry Christmas cake had come with their dinner. Once all the chicken and fries had been consumed, Hiyoshi picked up the white frosted confection and held it up to Akaya's lips. Akaya opened his mouth and took a bite of the treat with a small grin, quite happy to be fed sugar.

Hiyoshi smiled softly then bought it to his own mouth to try himself. It was better than he thought, but he wasn't a fan of overly sweet things. He lifted it back up to Akaya to take if he wanted.

Akaya took the whole thing into his mouth happily, having no restraint when it came to things he liked. He swallowed it down then wrapped himself around Hiyoshi, determined to not let the other boy more than a couple inches from him for the rest of the night.

Hiyoshi laughed at his boyfriend’s predictable actions and let himself be wrapped up in his arms, enjoying the moment. After a few minutes though he started falling asleep and decided he needed to get up. He tried to move out of Akaya's arms, but found himself quite trapped in the stubborn brat's embrace. "C'mon brat, let go."

"Nope," He chimed and just held Hiyoshi close stubbornly.

Rolling his eyes, he tried to pry Akaya's arms off him, but his brat was clinging like a leech. Turning and raising his head, he kissed Akaya's forehead. "I want to take a shower."

"Okay," Akaya conceded, moving so they could both stand up. "Let's take a shower!"

That hadn't been what Hiyoshi had in mind but knew it was useless to say so. He started taking his clothes off, but it took longer than usual since Akaya still refused to step away from him. Once his shirt, pants, and boxers were off, he flung them into the laundry hamper. It had been a very long day of travel and they'd just had a very greasy dinner. Being clean and lying comfortably in bed with Akaya for a little while before sleep sounded perfect.

Akaya stripped down as well, but didn't throw his clothes in the hamper. He just left them where they fell, not particularly caring. It was Christmas. He could do whatever the hell he wanted. He stayed close to Hiyoshi as they went into the bathroom and he started the shower.

The hot water felt wonderful on his cold skin and Hiyoshi closed his eyes under the spray, willing his muscles to relax after a long day. He heard Akaya enter behind him and felt him moving around bringing a small smile to his lips. Maybe a shower with the brat had been a good idea after all. Truth be told, he wasn't in any hurry to be separated again from him either.

Pressing up against Hiyoshi's back, Akaya hugged him close. "Mm... You're warm..." he purred happily and just snuggled there, not terribly worried about getting clean because he was too comfortable.

Hiyoshi leaned into those strong arms, happy where he was and glad he wasn't Singapore. Reaching for the shampoo, he turned in Akaya's arms to slowly massage and kneed it through the head of hair he was almost more familiar with than his own.

Akaya closed his eyes and let the other wash his hair, a smile on his face. He got some shampoo in his hand as well and started washing Hiyoshi's hair as soon as the other was done with his.

For the younger but more mature boy, it seemed almost natural now to take care of Akaya. The times like this when Akaya returned the attentions when at one point were embarrassing were now starting to become ones he enjoyed immensely.

"Akaya," he said in a soft but serious voice with closed eyes. "If you ever lie to me again… Tell me you're okay with something you're not… I'll kill you."

The chastised brat ran his fingers through Hiyoshi's hair, soaping it up properly before letting him go into the water so he could rinse all the shampoo out. It was always amusing to him to see Hiyoshi's hair when it was wet. It never really looked any different, unlike his which looked completely different. "Yeah... I know..." he said quietly and watched his boyfriend with gentle eyes.

"Good." After the shampoo was rinsed out, Hiyoshi took the soap sponge and handed it to Akaya. "Finish washing up so we can get out and go to bed." He had meant to say it in a harsher tone, but it came out as more of an affectionate command.

Akaya nodded and smiled before starting to clean himself off quickly so they could go to bed. Curling up with his lover sounded like heaven right then and who was he to delay that?

Once they were out, Hiyoshi made sure Akaya thoroughly dried his hair before letting him near the bed. Noticing Akaya's clothes on the floor, he went to pick them up and put them in the laundry hamper as well.

All clean and ready for bed, the bratty demon walked around the room naked, too lazy to find something to wear as he dried his hair and watched his slightly obsessive compulsive boyfriend.

Hiyoshi put on a pair of plain faded yellow boxer shorts and when Akaya's hair looked dry enough, held out his hand to receive the towel, knowing Akaya would just throw it on the floor.

Akaya handed the towel to his boyfriend with a grin and looked over his boyfriend’s boxers with an amused smirk, snickering mentally.

After hanging the towel up, Hiyoshi collapsed tiredly on the bed, looking up at his snickering brat with a weary raised eyebrow. "What's so amusing?"

"Your boxers... I like the color." He grinned and snuggled up to his lover's side. "You look good in yellow..."

Hiyoshi stopped mid-yawn abruptly, getting it. He grimaced, thinking he'd have to throw them out first thing in the morning. For now though, he just returned Akaya's embrace, lying on his stomach with his head on Akaya's warm shoulder. "Nn… Merry Christmas, brat."


	49. Chapter 49

It was nice and early when Akaya's eyes opened, and for a moment he couldn't figure out why he was even conscious, until his eyes fixed themselves on the decorations in the room. His eyes widened and he shot up in bed with an excited grin. "It's Christmas!" His voice rang out happily and he jumped out of bed, still very much naked from their shower the night before.

Hiyoshi didn’t know what he’d been dreaming about, he never remembered his dreams, but when Akaya suddenly all but leapt from the bed, he came awake with a start and shot up into a sitting position with round eyes. His eyes scanned his surroundings quickly and he forced his tense muscles to relax. It was just him and Akaya, who was naked and acting like a five-year-old, yes, everything was normal.

"Merry Christmas, Wakashi~!" Akaya chimed and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend with a big grin that could rival any five-year-old's.

That’s right. It was Christmas. The martial artist couldn’t help smiling back at his brat’s expression and snickered. “Bah humbug.”

"If you say that again I'm going to paint you green, you Grinch." Laughing green eyes crawled into his lover’s lap. Wrapping his long well toned arms around Hiyoshi's shoulders, he kissed his boyfriend lovingly.

Chuckling, Hiyoshi was tempted to say it again but decided not to test the threat. He wrapped his arms around Akaya waist in return and pulled him closer, kissing him back.

Akaya smiled into the kiss and pulled away after a long moment. "Ready for your present?" he asked gleefully in true Christmas spirit and played with Hiyoshi’s hair.

“My present? Did Santa-san come?” Hiyoshi couldn’t help but ask teasingly.

"No, silly, Santa-san can't come to dorms. There's no chimney!" Wakashi was such a dork. Of course Santa couldn't come to colleges. It would be too hard for him.

Hiyoshi wasn’t sure if his boyfriend was joking or being serious and shook his head. “Then I guess we better get a place with a chimney,” he mumbled. His face drained of color when he realized he’d said that out loud and continued on in a hurry. “…You said I have a present? I would appreciate it if you would put something on first.” He hid his face from Akaya’s view and nuzzled against one his favorite spots of skin, right below his brat’s ear. “Not that I’m complaining. You’re just a little distracting.”

Akaya watched Hiyoshi curiously as he talked, wondering what the other man was talking about, but he was easily distracted by the nuzzle. "Mm, fine, I suppose I can do that... Besides, I'm part of your present, and unwrapped presents aren't as much fun," he laughed and slipped off his lover’s lap to go find something to wear.

Hiyoshi chuckled and shook his head. He was relieved when Akaya got up and moved away to change. He’d been lucky to dodge that one. He hadn’t meant to presume the two of them would one day have an actual place together. Just because he’d been doing a little bit of looking around in the area didn’t have any significance at all.

While Akaya got dressed, he slowly moved out of bed himself, shivering a bit at the cold. Soon he wore a warm shirt and a pair of comfortable sweatpants. Looking at the clock on the nightstand, he surmised it was still way too early to pick up Akaya’s present.

Akaya got dressed in some soft tennis ball sweat pants and pulled on a 'Property of Rikkaidai' t-shirt before pulling out a wrapped box from his closet. Flopping on his side of the bed with a grin, he offered it to his boyfriend with a wide smile. "Here."

Feeling a little discouraged that his present to Akaya wasn’t ready yet, Hiyoshi walked back over to the bed but didn’t take the present. “Your present isn’t ready yet. Do you want to get some breakfast first so we can open them at the same time later?”

"That's okay. Here! I wanna see if you like it or not..." The seaweed-headed boy said excitedly and offered the box again. "I can wait for mine." Though now he was very, very curious what his present could be that it wasn't ready yet.

Nodding unenthusiastically, Hiyoshi took the box and sat down on the bed to open it. His birthday not having been that long ago, he wondered what Akaya got him. Maybe another weapon? He doubted it since the box didn’t seem the right size or weight for it. In fact, when he’d passed it over, it sounded as if whatever was inside broke.

He un-wrapped the package curiously and was very confused at first at the box inside, then slowly his eyes widened and he didn’t know what to do. How did Akaya know? He wanted to grin like a toddler and rip open the box, he wanted to jump his boyfriend and tell him how much he loved him, he wanted to pretend he didn’t care so he wouldn’t be so embarrassed that he’d just received the best fucking present ever and it was the fucking Death Star Lego set.

Akaya watched him closely, hoping he liked the present, with a big grin on his face. He could see that internal debate in his lover and his grin just grew. Apparently he'd done well.

The usually serious boy was already grinning like crazy person since apparently he didn’t have any say over it; therefore, pretending he didn’t care became an impractical endeavor. Hiyoshi decided to go for his last option. He set the box to the side of the bed and knocked his boyfriend onto his back on the bed, kissing him for all he was worth, sealing their mouths together and whispering he loved him under his breath when they broke off for air.

Akaya laughed into the kiss and kissed him back lovingly, happy he'd gotten something Hiyoshi really liked. It was a really good feeling, seeing his boyfriend so unrestrained and happy, it didn't happen often.

The closet nerd had wanted stupid Lego’s since he was three, he’d been a secret fan of Star Wars since Elementary school, but he’d never had the nerve to ask his parents or buy them for himself. “How did you know?”

"I'm your boyfriend, I know everything," Akaya teased and stuck his tongue out at him.

Hiyoshi snorted and took the offered tongue into his mouth, sucking gently while taking a handful of his boyfriend’s firm ass and squeezing. “How did you know?”

"I already told you...." was the laughing reply as Akaya rolled his hips up against Hiyoshi’s teasingly.

Hiyoshi growled low in his throat and rolled his hips down harder against Akaya’s. “I don’t remember ever telling you I…” blush reflex be damned, “like Star Wars…” The only person he thought might know was Shishido since it was one of the very few things they’d had in common. They had watched it together at Atobe’s home theater once. It was the only time he could remember them sitting together for that long without trying to verbally or otherwise attack each other.

Akaya groaned quietly and laughed again. "It's a secret." He still remembered their little trip to Disneyland and how his boyfriend had reacted to the Star Tours ride. He wasn't as dumb as people thought.

Decided to drop it for now since his boyfriend obviously didn’t want to tell him, Hiyoshi looked over at his Lego box. Okay, maybe he just wanted to play with his new toy. He kissed his boyfriend one last time before sitting up and retrieving it. They never celebrated Christmas at his house since it was more of a western tradition, but he thought this was what it must feel like on Christmas morning for other families. “Should we open it?”

"If you want," Akaya laughed and watched his boyfriend. "I kinda want to see what's so cool about this thing..." he said and gestured to the Lego box that he'd been storing for so long.

Hiyoshi did not pause. He opened the box and poured out its contents along with the directions. He carefully looked over the contents to make sure everything was there, and explained to Akaya without looking up. “It’s the Death Star diorama. It says once completed it has 14 scenes from the original trilogy… Look! All of the characters are here. It has C3PO and R2D2!” He held up the figures to show Akaya with a giant foreign grin on his face. “They probably have light sabers in here, too…” He dug around some more.

Akaya brought a hand up to his mouth to stifle his pleased laugh and just nodded when Hiyoshi showed him the pieces, his boyfriend really was too cute for his own good.

“Hmm… It says we need to start with the base… That makes sense. We have to find the bag with those parts first…” He continued on, mumbling to himself and giving commands to Akaya every now and then, separating the Lego’s by size and color and figuring out how to make the base section first.

Akaya just grinned and did what he was told, not wanting to mess up Hiyoshi's organization of everything. He was hungry, but he also didn’t want to interrupt his lover’s bonding with the inanimate objects. Besides, Lego’s had always been one of his favorite toys.

Sanada gave one quick knock on Akaya's door before opening it, holding a box full of new tennis shoes and accessories for the other boy. "Akaya, I brought you--" he paused when his eyes fell on the two sitting on the floor with plastic blocks laid out between them. He paled a little and just set the package down and closed the door. At least they weren't doing something else, he supposed.

All together it was 3,803 pieces, so it looked like it would take a long time to completely assemble properly. Hiyoshi had never had his own Lego’s before but was sure Akaya and he could do it. He decided to take a few of the characters out, eyeing the assassin droid with glee, when he heard the door open and looked up just in time to see it close again. “Who was that?”

"Oh uh, just Niou-senpai," Akaya replied quickly and waved it off, knowing Hiyoshi would get all twitchy if he knew it was Sanada. "So, what one is that?" he asked, pointing to the assassin droid curiously, trying to distract him again.

Usually Akaya distracting him would not have worked so easily, but at the moment there were much more important things at hand. “It’s an assassin droid. They were used by politicians or bounty hunters to eliminate those in the way. Most of the time, they are equipped with different weapons and are loyal to their masters, but there are some rogue assassins, too. This one works for the empire and…” Realizing as he was talking that he’d picked up his assassin droid’s gun and was playing with it like a little kid, embarrassed, Hiyoshi put it down abruptly. “Sorry, this is probably all really boring to you...”

Akaya only smiled and laughed a bit. "It's okay. It's really fun to watch you talk about it all." He smiled and moved over to snuggle up to his boyfriend's side. "We should go get breakfast soon though." His stomach gave a loud rumble, right on cue.

Chuckling, Hiyoshi kissed Akaya’s forehead. “Alright.” He looked around at the small mess he made, still not believing Akaya had known. “Thank you… Merry Christmas.”

 

After cleaning up the Lego mess to be worked on later, Hiyoshi took Akaya out for a very sugary Christmasy breakfast at a nearby pancake restaurant. Though he himself was not a fan of pancakes, he knew his boyfriend was and wanted to take him somewhere he would like.

The look on the Akaya’s face when he saw the menu was well worth it when they arrived, however, it was a little crowded due to the holiday. They didn’t stay for very long and were soon making their way back to the dorms. Loaded with sugar, Hiyoshi enjoyed the happy smile on his brat’s face.

They were walking along the small lake that went around campus, taking the long way back. Though the deserted winter campus presented a nice view, Hiyoshi wished he’d brought a thicker jacket. Damn it, he hated the cold, but it seemed as though it wasn’t affecting his boyfriend in the slightest.

Akaya walked along cheerfully, his hands in his pockets and his tummy full. Automatically when he noticed Hiyoshi was cold he took off his jacket and put it over his boyfriend’s shoulders, not minding the cold at all. He'd always been really warm whereas his boyfriend was like a reptile or something and needed sun to keep himself warm.

Hiyoshi hated it when his boyfriend did that but knew better by now than to argue with him over it. His demon boyfriend had to be very, very, very hot blooded. It was the only explanation. Well, it also explained a few others things about his personality. Now with two jackets on, he probably looked twice his size and ridiculous, but warmth won over his appearance.

Stopping at the edge of the lake, the bundled up mushroom decided to sit down and enjoy the view for a moment. This was where he and Choutarou used to come sometimes and feed the ducks. Sadly, because of the cold and since Choutarou had gone off to study abroad in Europe again, both his friend and the ducks were no longer around, but the view was still nice.

Akaya stood next to Hiyoshi's sitting form and looked out over the lake. "You remember when I kissed you here?" He asked with a little smile that made an odd nostalgic feeling settle over him. It had been a long time since they'd been there.

Startled out of his somber thoughts, Hiyoshi turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “Is that a trick question?” He looked back out over the lake, remembering ALL the times his boyfriend had kissed him there. “Are you referring to the time you kissed me after stalking me here and calling me boring? Or maybe the time you jumped me and tried to make out with me in the rain? Or perhaps you mean the time you dragged me out here in the middle of the night and somehow coerced me into--”

"All of the above," the snickering demon brat teased and looked out at the water. "I liked all of them." He grinned and let out a content sigh. "It's been a really interesting year, hasn't it?"

Hiyoshi scooted away from him in mock terror. “Are you getting sappy on me?”

Akaya laughed and nudged him with his foot. "I'll throw you in the lake if you're not careful."

Rolling his eyes, Hiyoshi crossed his arms and stated reproachfully. “I think there would be a better chance of YOU ending up in that lake than me.” He smirked at the thought and predatorily began to creep closer. “Do you want to test it?”

"Nope, I'm good," Akaya laughed and inched away, hands held in front of him defensively.

The smirk widened. “Too late.” With quick agile movements, Hiyoshi grabbed his demon boyfriend around the waist and picked him up, half throwing him over his shoulder. Before Akaya had a chance to react, he brought him to the edge of the water. “Let’s see how much cold you can really take.”

Akaya yelped in surprise and flailed in his boyfriends arm. "W--what are you---Wakashi!! Don't!!" He said between panicked yelps and nervous laughs. "I'll get hypothermia or something!!! Or I'll get frost bite and then we won't be able to have sex anymore!!!"

Hiyoshi laughed loudly, backing away from the water and sat back on the grass with Akaya in his lap. “I guess we wouldn’t want that.” He ran his cold hand up and under Akaya’s shirt, feeling his warm skin and looked at him affectionately. “I like you better warm, anyway.”

"Yeah, how am I supposed to keep you from freezing at night if you freeze me?" The demon boy laughed and wrapped his arms around his lover’s neck.

That was a good point. Holding his warm brat close and still chuckling lightly, Hiyoshi looked away from Akaya for a moment, then back to the lake, thinking. In a hesitant voice, he asked, “Hypothetically, what would you think if I asked you to move in with me?”

Akaya stared at him for a moment, his eyes going wide. "You... I… You'd want to live with me? Outside of the dorms?"

It was supposed to be a hypothetical question, damn it. “It’s just an idea. It wouldn’t be until at least the end of next term…” Hiyoshi liked the idea of having his own space and privacy again… with Akaya.

Akaya watched him for a minute before that familiar big grin spread across his face. "I want to!" He cried excitedly and glomped onto Hiyoshi hard. "Of course I want to!!!"

“…Really? You don’t… think it might be too soon? It might be expensive.” Of course, Hiyoshi had been thinking about it quite a bit lately, but still, it wouldn’t be good to rush into things. He wanted Akaya to really think about this before answering him. “You’d be farther away from your senpai’s, and there’d be no cafeteria, and there would be a lot more…” he trailed off.

"It's alright," Akaya laughed and kissed him soundly. "At least then we wouldn't traumatize fukubuchou anymore," he teased and shook his head. "And I can get a job if it's expensive and well, we'll have to learn to cook..."

Hiyoshi kissed him back, feeling the smile form. “You mean YOU wouldn’t traumatize him anymore.” Actually, he probably would, but getting away from his boyfriend’s sempai was one the reasons he wanted to move. “And you won’t need to get a job. I can make up for it. You need to concentrate on your studies.”

"I can do both, I can... And I'm not going to let you pay for everything," Green eyes shined as he said so and played with his lover’s hair gently, "And we work together to traumatize, fukubuchou..." he stuck his tongue out at him.

Hiyoshi didn’t want to argue over money right now, though it made perfect sense to him for Akaya to just accept it. “No, you somehow drag me down to your level and make me look immature in front of him.” He stuck his tongue back out at him to prove his point, trying not to laugh. He was too happy right now to care about how ridiculous he probably looked.

Akaya took that tongue between his teeth with a mischievous grin and touched his nose to Hiyoshi’s, excitement virtually oozing off of him.

Hiyoshi looked cross eyed down to their touching noses and where Akaya was holding his tongue hostage, then looked straight back at him and rolled his eyes.

Laughing, Akaya kissed Hiyoshi soundly, purring happily into the kiss.

Akaya’s hot mouth engulfed his, and Hiyoshi moaned softly, kissing him back. Just the heated breathing between them warmed his freezing features. “I guess we’ll find out if those cooking classes you’ve been taking have paid off,” he said amusedly between kisses, never letting Akaya’s lips stray too far from his.

"We just gotta make sure we have a fire extinguisher and we'll be fine," the terror in any kitchen teased and played with his lover’s hair.

Trailing his cold nose down the side of Akaya’s neck, Hiyoshi made a small appreciative sound at the hands in his hair. “Mm… Maybe I should re-think this. I’m having second thoughts…”

"What?" Akaya pouted. "How come?" he nuzzled against Hiyoshi’s head and whined quietly like a puppy that’d had his bone taken away.

“I’m not going to get us a place if you’re just going to burn it down.” He said into a soft warm neck and sighed contentedly. He wouldn’t have minded staying there all day on the empty hill by the lake with Akaya there to keep him warm, but there was the matter of Akaya’s present he still had to attend to. Reluctantly, he stood, bringing Akaya with him.

Akaya pouted a little as they stood, but then remembered he still had a present coming from Hiyoshi and grinned. "Are we going to get my gift now?" he asked with a devious childish grin.

Technically, Hiyoshi wasn’t supposed to go pick up the present until after Christmas since he hadn’t thought he’d be there. In fact, he hadn’t really figured out yet how he was going to bring the present to Akaya. He reasoned that might end up being a problem. “Can I meet you back at home? I shouldn’t be too long.”

"Oh... Yeah, I guess so," Akaya mumbled and shrugged. "But if you take too long I'm going to start on your Lego death thing," he threatened with a grin and gave his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek before giving him a little wave. "See you soon."

“It’s a Death Star and don’t even think about it.” The newly exposed Star Wars nerd glared at him and started walking away, then stopped to call back. “While you’re home, make sure everything is off the floor that you don’t want destroyed. Trust me.” He tossed Akaya the jacket he’d given him earlier, turned, and left.

 

Hiyoshi walked down the hall to Kaidoh’s dorm room. He didn’t know how this would work or even his number, so he couldn’t call first. There was a chance the ex-Seigaku captain would be out for Christmas or was with company. Furthermore, how he was going to get the present from Kaidoh’s room back to his own dorm was a mystery. He considered bringing a big box or something but that probably wouldn’t work.

Hoping he wasn’t disturbing anyone, he politely knocked on the door.

Kaidoh rolled his eyes as the last three puppies started yapping away happily at the sound of the knock and he got up to open the door. "Ah... Hiyoshi-san..." He herded the puppies back and gestured for the mushroom headed boy to come in.

Hiyoshi was relieved when the door opened. He would’ve felt guilty if he’d had to make Akaya wait for his gift after he’d looked so excited about it. Though looking at the three little yapping puppies, he once again felt like kicking himself in the back of the head for deciding to do this.

“Sorry, for coming over unannounced. Would it be alright for me to take it now?” He looked between the three energetic lumps of noisy fur and quickly located his. In some ways it reminded him a little bit of Akaya, which was probably why he’d chosen that one. It was the only one that hadn’t been afraid of him when he last visited, which was probably the reason he shouldn’t have picked that one.

Hiyoshi didn’t know anything about dogs, but it had a little black and white face, the black surrounding it’s eyes trailed down to it’s even darker black nose. Little white eyebrow looking spots rested above its eyes. When it was running around energetically, it looked like a little wolf demon, but when it stopped for a moment and just looked at you, it had the Akaya-like ability to be adorably cute and make him want to smile.

"Oh, yeah... Sure..." Kaidoh walked over and grabbed a leash and collar from the nightstand. They were bright yellow in color with a black stripe through the middle. "I got these as a thank you for taking one of them... I figured Kirihara would like them..." He mumbled quietly and bent down to put the collar on Hiyoshi's chosen puppy then clicked the leash to it.

Hiyoshi grimaced at the color choice, but was grateful for the leash all the same. He should have thought of that earlier. “Thank you.” He leaned down to look at the puppy and held out his hand like Kaidoh had taught him to do last time. He had done a little bit of research online of how to properly handle animals, and all the advice said talking to them as if it was a person was best. “Would you mind coming with me?” he asked politely, feeling very awkward talking to a small four legged creature as if it could give him a proper answer.

The puppy's tail wagged slowly and it nuzzled Hiyoshi's hand. Kaidoh looked pleased and pet the puppy as well before standing. "Take good care of him. If he needs anything or you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. I can always puppy sit, too."

When the little furry face touched his hand, Hiyoshi already knew he was in trouble. For some reason he suddenly had the urge to pick it up and carry it home, but resisted. Standing and taking the leash, he nodded and thanked Kaidoh again for his help. “Would you mind giving me your contact information? I’m not sure if I’ll have questions later… Is there anything else you can think of that I should know?”

"He's teething, so get him some toys soon if you don't want to get your things chewed up." Kaidoh suggested and offered Hiyoshi a business card with all of his information on it. "Other than that, I think you'll be fine," he mumbled and adjusted his bandanna that had paw prints on it. It wasn't one he wore outside, but suited him just fine when he was home alone.

An image of the puppy chewing through Akaya’s video games that he usually left all over the floor came to mind making Hiyoshi grin a bit sadistically. Maybe this would make the brat pick up after himself more. He nodded again, took the card, and headed for the door, pulling gently on the little leash for the puppy to follow him.

The puppy trotted along beside him, seeming to be quite content. It was definitely used to being on a leash due to Kaidoh walking him and his siblings everyday and followed along without pulling too much just like it was supposed to.

Kaidoh held back the other two puppies and gave a polite nod of his head as he watched the other boy leave. Then he looked at the two remaining puppies and smiled a little. "Well... should we go for a walk, too?" he asked and received a little bark in response. That was good enough for him.

Walking back to his own dorm ended up being part of Hiyoshi’s first learning experience. The little puppy had the attention span of… well, Akaya. Any time there was a bird or something it deemed interesting, it wanted to stop and investigate. Needless to say, it took longer than expected to get back to the dorm.

He was almost to the front of the dorm when he remembered that technically they weren’t supposed to have dogs. Going around to the back of the building, he used the back exit door just in case. On his way, he checked in their mail box and found a thick envelope that was addressed to both him and Akaya from Akaya’s mother. Looking at the envelope curiously, he scooped the furry bundle up with one hand so it wouldn’t scamper around once they were in the building.

Arriving at the door, he took a deep breath. Once Akaya saw the puppy he knew there would be no going back. He really hoped he hadn’t made a wrong decision. He looked down at the fur ball in his arms that was behaving surprisingly well. “Please don’t make me regret this.”

Just on the other side of the door, Akaya had long since made sure the room was cleaned up like his boyfriend had instructed and was waiting with bated breath. He couldn't imagine what the present would be. Well... that wasn't completely true. He'd come up with a few options, but all of them had been quickly extinguished by that little Hiyoshi voice in his head. He was a little disappointed it wasn't going to be a trained crocodile though.

The puppy’s tail wagged and it leaned its head back to lick at Hiyoshi’s face lovingly. Hiyoshi smiled and petted its little head, knocked once then opened the door.

Akaya looked up from his DS with a grin, eyes fixed on his lover. He was about to ask what the present was when he saw the large wagging lump of fur in Hiyoshi’s arms. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Wakashi… What that's a… YOU GOT ME A PUPPY?!" He called out in joy and ran over to grab the lump of husky fluff from his arms. He grinned at the puppy who looked back with its two brown eyes, tail wagging a little. He held the puppy with one arm and latched onto Hiyoshi with the other, excitement oozing off of him. "Thank you!!!!!!"

Hiyoshi grinned, pleased at Akaya’s excitement. He’d made a good choice. “Merry Christmas, brat." He kissed his forehead. "Now let me take my shoes off so I can come in.”

Akaya stole a kiss then backed off, puppy in hand, so his boyfriend could take off his shoes. He looked at the collar and the leash and his grin just got bigger.

Hiyoshi took off his shoes then placed the letter from Akaya’s mom on his desk. “I hope you know that’s your puppy and you’ll be the one who takes care of it.” Even as he said so though, he reached out to stroke the little fur ball’s head.

"Yes sir!" Akaya grinned and told the puppy to sit, giving it lots of love as it did. "You're such a good--" he paused and lifted up the puppy to look at it curiously, "Boy! You're a good boy," he cooed and wrestled a little with the pup when it started gnawing on his arm playfully.

Hiyoshi really hoped Akaya knew what he was doing. They were cute together, and it somehow made him feel warm and happy just watching them.

Akaya looked up at Hiyoshi and smiled at him as well, grin reaching from ear to ear. "We'll have to go to the pet store tomorrow," he said, not minding at all and growled a little back at the puppy whose tail just wagged more.

Hiyoshi snorted. “Did you just growl?” With mirthful eyes, he sat down next to them. “That’s fine. If you wake up we can go in the morning before classes start.” That was when he usually went jogging. He had a feeling he’d have a little extra company on his morning runs now.

"Well yeah," Akaya laughed. "If you wanna play with a puppy, you gotta act like a puppy," he grinned and nuzzled the puppy’s tummy with his nose, earning another little growl from the puppy. "I can't wait. It will be so much fun."

Sitting back and watching the two of them roll around and playfully growl at each other, seeing Akaya doing his best to impersonate the little creature, was quite amusing. After few minutes, Hiyoshi asked, “What are you going to name him?”

"Hmm... Something tennis related," he grinned and tried to dislodge the puppy from his arm.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. What were common dog names? He had no idea. “Brigestone?” That was his tennis brand back when he played.

"No way. That brand sucks," Akaya wrinkled his nose in disgust. "How about Babolat? Or Yonex?"

Hiyoshi glared at the insult to his brand and crossed his arms over his chest. “No. He will not be named after anything that sounds like a watch company, nor a low class unoriginal Japanese name. How about Pocchi?”

"I thought you said no low class unoriginal Japanese names?" He stuck his tongue out at him and then picked up his puppy to look at him. "How about Wilson?"

Annoyed, Hiyoshi was about to object again, but the puppy chose that moment to give a little happy sounding bark and Hiyoshi conceded. “I suppose Wilson is acceptable.”

Akaya grinned and nuzzled his puppy. "Wilson," he laughed, "I like it."

Hiyoshi held out his arms, “Give him here.”

Handing over the wiggling puppy to his lover, Akaya grinned as the tail started wagged faster.

Taking the excited bundle into his arms, Hiyoshi smirked when it tried to lick his face. Talking to it in a serious yet soft voice, he asked while once again trying to treat it like a person as the book he’d read told him to, “Your name is now Wilson. If you don’t like it or prefer not to stay with us, you should let us know now.” Despite the puppy obviously not having anything near human intelligence, he still thought it deserved the chance to refuse.

"Are you waiting for him to answer?" Akaya laughed and smiled softly at Hiyoshi and the ball of fur. It really was too cute to watch his lover talk to it like it was just another person.

Hiyoshi’s face turned a bit red and put the puppy, Wilson, on the floor. “I just wanted to make sure he’s alright with this.” Even to his own ears that sounded stupid. He quickly changed the subject and indicated towards his desk. “On my way back I picked up the mail. We got something from your mother.”

"We did?" Akaya’s tone was curious as he got up to pick up the letter. "I wonder what it is..." He turned the envelope over a couple times and looked at it strangely. "My mom almost never sends me stuff..."

Though the thick envelope had been addressed to both of them, Hiyoshi would have felt awkward opening something from Akaya’s parents. He shrugged. “I don’t know. Open it.”

Akaya turned it over again and opened it, pulling out the contents. "Pictures?" he asked and turned them over to look at them. "Wow, Wakashi look at these!" He chimed and showed the pictures to his boyfriend. There was one of them kissing on the top and it made him smile. "Wow... We look really good together..."

At Akaya’s words, Hiyoshi quickly looked down to see what Akaya was seeing and flushed bright red. They were obviously the Christmas pictures they’d taken not too long ago at Akaya’s parent’s house. Did he really make that face when Akaya kissed him? “Let me see those…” He grabbed the pictures from his boyfriend and started looking through them, growing redder by the moment till there might have been worry he would pass out.

Akaya laughed and watched Hiyoshi’s face instead of the photos. He could look at pictures anytime, but that embarrassed expression he only got to see occasionally. "You alright?" he asked teasingly.

There were a few normal pictures of them just standing together, him with his usual almost smile, more like a smirk expression and Akaya smiling crazily at the camera. But… He was also holding pictures of them staring into each others eyes, him cupping Akaya’s cheek, ruffling his hair… looking happier and more loving than he thought he was capable of.

The mushroom-headed boy’s heart thumped loudly in his chest at one picture of him holding Akaya’s hand and kissing the inside of his palm. He knew if it had been anyone else’s picture he was looking at, it would have been more than obvious he was smitten. He lowered his head and took that one picture out of the stack for himself then handed the rest back to Akaya.

Akaya smiled and ducked his head to kiss him. "Hey... Don't be embarrassed. These make me really happy." He looked at his boyfriend and grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you... for taking these with me."

All Hiyoshi could do was nod. He placed the picture in his desk drawer to later be moved to his wallet when Akaya wasn’t looking.

Wilson had apparently gotten bored and was jumping up and down, pawing at their legs for attention. Glad for the distraction, Hiyoshi reached down to pet his head. “What? You want pictures, too?” There was no way in hell he was taking any more pictures any time soon.

Akaya grinned and jumped over the bed to grab his cell phone then jumped back over again. "Wakashi, pick up Wilson and smile. I want a picture for my background."

“I was joking, brat. No.” Wasn’t he just thinking there would be no more pictures?

"Please," the brat pouted and watched his boyfriend with that puppy dog look that the puppy was unconsciously mimicking at Hiyoshi.

Fucking hell, Hiyoshi hated his life. He picked up the puppy and glared at Akaya’s phone. He felt a little lick at the side of his face and turned just in time to get another one right on the corner of his mouth. He sputtered and the puppy made a proud little barking sound causing him to chuckle.

Clicking the photo, Akaya grinned and saved it as his background, replacing the picture he'd taken of Hiyoshi when he was sleeping. "There, Wilson is part of the family now."

“It would seem so,” Hiyoshi said, rolling his eyes. He put Wilson down and approached Akaya, pointing up. Before Akaya even had the chance to look up at the mistletoe, he claimed a Christmas kiss from his bratty demon boyfriend.


	50. Chapter 50

New Years had passed by quickly. Hiyoshi and Kirihara had gone home to their respective families for the holidays with Wilson accompanying Akaya home for obvious reasons. They were only gone for a few days and then returned to join the flurry of students signing up for classes.

Almost three weeks had gone by since then and they were feeling settled in their new schedules; however, new problems arose. There were a few unexpected drawbacks to having a small puppy for a pet in a very small dorm room. For one, the puppy made a mess everywhere and on everything, needless to say, many of their belongings were destroyed. Two, they found out rather quickly that sex in the same room with a puppy was nearly impossible, not to mention awkward. Three, puppies were not the quietest of animals and technically they weren’t supposed to have pets in the dorm. It was a miracle no one had come to them about it yet. Hiyoshi personally had a feeling Akaya had something to do with that, but he didn’t want to know.

Despite all this though, Wilson was theirs and would be staying. Akaya now spent a majority of his time at home playing with Wilson when he would usually be playing video games or bugging Hiyoshi for attention. It helped rid him of some of the overabundance of energy he maintained.

Wilson was also company for Hiyoshi who had become used to taking him with on his morning jogs, as well as when he was home alone for hours while Akaya was out with his friends or at practice. At times he was annoyed as hell and wanted to chuck the pup out the window into the cold, but then there were the times when Hiyoshi would sit down to read and Wilson would dutifully sit by him expectantly. He would pet him or throw a small ball for him to chase while engaged in the science-fiction or autobiography of his choice, and even if Wilson had chewed on Han Solo, at least it wasn’t R2D2.

Overall, the pluses greatly outweighed the minuses, but those minuses needed to be dealt with, and the sooner the better. Hiyoshi was currently reading on the bed with a sleepy Wilson curled up on his lap, petting him as he waited for Akaya to return.

Akaya had never been so sexually frustrated in all of his life. He had never expected the puppy to be such a hindrance to their sex life. He'd started taking longer showers again to try and deal with the pressure, but nothing seemed to help.

"Hey," he chimed as he walked in; glad he'd worked himself to near exhaustion since it seemed to relieve some of the sexual tension. Given, Sanada had helped get him to the point of exhaustion... a lot, by giving him 200 laps for pantsing one of the annoying freshmen, but he'd keep that to himself. When he walked in, Wilson scrambled off of Hiyoshi’s lap and ran over to jump up on him. He could already see that the rambunctious puppy had grown since they got him and he was starting to wonder just how big their fluffball was going to get. "What are you reading?" he asked curiously and crouched down to get his daily face licking.

Not looking up from his book, Hiyoshi responded, “A biography on the grand master Shinken Taira from the Taisho era.” He read for a minute more until he came to a stopping point then saved his spot and put the book to the side. Looking up, he noticed how sweaty and exhausted his boyfriend looked. “Hard practice?”

Akaya raised an eyebrow at him but didn't bother asking what the hell Hiyoshi just said. He had a feeling even if the other explained it he'd have no idea. "Oh, yeah. It was a lot of work, but it was fun..." Except for when his mind wandered during a match to the time he and his boyfriend had done it on that very court. He had of course gotten hit over the head by Sanada for the dopey look on his face after the ball had already pegged him in the forehead. Other than that though...

Hiyoshi nodded. Akaya always looked so alluring after his practices, and usually this would be the perfect time to… but he knew from experience that acting on his impulse to get up and fuck his boyfriend with Wilson there would lead to more pain than pleasure. He cleared his throat and forced himself to ignore his body’s base urges and instead just stood and walked past him to the small water dispenser they had bought for both themselves and for Wilson. “Would you like some water?”

"Yeah, please," the bratty boy said with a little smile and looked over his boyfriend’s body, wanting a lot more than just water. "So um--" He cleared his throat and looked away from that perfectly toned ass. "Wilson didn't eat any of my stuff while I was gone again, did he?" he asked, trying to distract himself.

Hiyoshi took out two glasses, filled them, and then handed one to Akaya, careful not to look at how his curls were half plastered to his face and half sticking out wildly in every direction. Or how his practice jersey was stuck to his body, showing off his amazing abdominal muscles and how his… “No, he’s been good today. It was a good idea getting him that chew toy at the last store, though we might need to replace one of the chair cushions.”

"One of the chair cush---" Green eyes looked over to his chair and paled. "Oh..." he looked back to the puppy who was now gnawing on his arm and sighed. “You're lucky you're cute fluff ball..." he murmured and looked back at Hiyoshi. Oh, the dog was damn lucky he was cute. "Hey, uh... You think we can find a dog sitter for the night, or something? I don't know how much more licking and gnawing my arm can take right now." Though there were some other areas of his body that he wouldn't mind Hiyoshi gnawing or licking, he couldn't exactly do that with the furry demon around.

Brown eyes met green over his water and Hiyoshi swallowed hard. The look on his boyfriend’s face told him all he needed to know. With a small smirk he took a few small steps closer to him. “Would you rather something else… lick you?”

Akaya paled and swallowed thickly. "Um... S-something like that," he murmured and shivered. "W-why…? Is there something you want t-to lick?" his voice dipped down into that husky tone only Hiyoshi seemed to bring out.

That voice made a pleasant little shiver run down the mushroom-headed boy’s spine and he looked his brat up and down with hungry eyes, forgetting that he was supposed to NOT be looking. “Now that you mention it… I see a few very tempting things right in front of me.” He was practically licking his lips already and his voice had lowered to match Akaya’s.

"O-Oh..." They needed a dog sitter... NOW. Akaya wriggled under that gaze and glanced toward the dog. "W--We should c--call someone...” He pointed toward Wilson, then the door.

Without breaking the needy gaze, Hiyoshi pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Kaidoh’s number he had on speed dial, praying it would connect.

Akaya finally got close enough to slip his hands over Hiyoshi’s abs, teasing them lightly as the puppy watched him curiously. He couldn't wait to get his boyfriend alone, finally. It had to have been almost a month!

On the other end of the phone, Kaidoh sat reading on his bed. His puppy, Hana, rested on his tummy. He heard his phone ring, the upbeat tone making him look over at it curiously. He reached over to answer it, but didn't recognize the number. He flipped it open. "Hello?" he grumbled and turned the page.

The lustful gaze turned to a glare when Akaya touched him, making Hiyoshi have to repress a shudder when he heard Kaidoh answer the phone simultaneously. “H-hello! This is Hiyoshi Wakashi. Sorry to disturb you. Is that offer to puppy-sit still available?” He swatted Akaya’s hand away. “As in right now?” He tried not to sound as hurried as he felt.

Akaya smirked and cupped Hiyoshi’s groin as he nibbled on his boyfriend’s ear.

Kaidoh raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sure... Is everything alright?"

Hiyoshi gasped and stepped back, pulling the phone away. “Fucking brat! Stop that!” Wilson barked.” Shit!” He put the phone back to his ear. “My apologies. Yes, thank you for asking.” He gave Akaya his ‘immanent death will be yours’ glare. “I can bring him over if it’s not too much trouble.”

Kaidoh blinked and stared at the phone before hissing quietly. "It's fine. I'll come get him. You sound... busy." He got up, giving Hana a pet on the head.

Akaya snickered and moved closer to Hiyoshi again, pressing right up against him, not scared of that glare at all.

His brat was so close, nose was almost in his hair, he could almost smell... “Mm... Huh? YES, thank you. We’ll be here, in Kuro dorm room seven.” He hung up the phone before he could further embarrass himself, looking murderously at Akaya. “I’m going to kill you.” The martial artist grabbed his boyfriend by the hair and crushed their mouths together, equally angry and turned on all at the same time.

Kaidoh looked at his phone confused, and then hung up. Shrugging, he pulled on his coat and shoes and started towards Hiyoshi’s and Kirihara’s room. Wait. He hesitated when he remembered who else might be in that room.

Akaya moaned loudly into the kiss, rolling his hips against his boyfriend’s for much needed and missed friction… until the puppy latched onto his ankle with a little growl. "Ack! Wilson! Let go…" was whimpered as he tried to pry his ankle from the jaws of the toothy puppy.

If Hiyoshi had been a more vulgar person, he would have been cursing up a storm right then. He groaned and pulled away from Akaya to call to Wilson who immediately let go and jumped into his arms. “Idiot! Why do you always do that?” he directed at the pup. All he got for an answer was a lick to the face.

Akaya pouted and rubbed at his ankle, hoping whoever Hiyoshi spoke to got there soon. He needed a vacation from his over energized fluffball.

“He’s your puppy. Can’t you train him to stop doing that?” Wilson was always moody whenever he and Akaya were in… those situations. He sighed and ran his hand through the short puppy fluff. “And while you’re at it, could you train him to stop destroying our belongings?”

"He's a puppy," Akaya responded with a pout and sighed, letting go of his injured ankle. "It takes time for him to learn this stuff..."

“Don’t pout, brat.” Ruffling his hair, Hiyoshi chuckled a bit at the fact he was petting both his pouting brats. Some of his anger had melted away at Akaya’s tone, but he was still frustrated. The hand in wayward curls traveled down to his neck, gently massaging at the tensed muscles there.

Akaya relaxed into the touch and pressed closer to Hiyoshi with a little purr, but just as he got comfortable, there was a knock at the door.

Wilson’s head jerked up at the knock and ran to the door. Hiyoshi followed him, praying to whatever gods were listening that it was Kaidoh. “Coming.” He opened it and almost sighed in relief. He never thought he would be so happy to see Seigaku. “Thank you for coming. Let me get you his leash.”

Kaidoh stepped inside and closed the door so the puppy didn't escape, but just stayed near the door. "No problem," he murmured and eyed Kirihara. They still didn't get along, since he would never forgive him for hurting Inui, but they could at least be civil he hoped.

Akaya blinked when he saw the Seigaku snake and shoved his hands in his pockets, his body naturally rising to its full height in an almost challenging fashion. He still didn't like the snake boy, but he'd behave himself for now. Their fight was on the court, not in his room. Besides, if he started a fight he knew he wouldn't be getting laid tonight.

Not having any idea there was tension between the two; Hiyoshi quickly grabbed the leash and hooked it to Wilson’s collar. “I hope this isn’t too much trouble for you. If you ever want me to return to the favor, let me know.” Handing the leash to Kaidoh, he smiled when he saw how excited Wilson looked. He was always excited when the leash went on, but it might have also been because Kaidoh was there. “I can pick him up later tonight if you’d like, or tomorrow morning before my jog, around seven?”

"You can pick him up after your jog if you want... I go on a run in the mornings at five, so he can come with me," Kaidoh explained and took the leash, bending down to pet Wilson lovingly, though his eyes darted to Akaya, giving him a silent glare before standing, "and I'll keep that in mind... Thank you for the offer."

At the look, Akaya’s lip twitched in that demon like little smirk that always infuriated his opponents. It was a look that promised they'd settle this later.

For some reason Hiyoshi didn’t like the idea of going on his jog without Wilson. Even though he had only started jogging with him recently, it sounded kind of… lonely. “I didn’t know you did work outs in the mornings as well. If you’re willing to compromise and wouldn’t mind the company, I could join you at six?” Their last dealing hadn’t been painful at all, and he didn’t think he would mind being in the bandana clad man’s company.

"Six?" Kaidoh thought about it and readjusted his menu mentally to make sure he'd have time to do everything. "Yeah, that's sounds like it'll work..." he mumbled and glanced over to Kirihara who looked like he didn't enjoy the idea at all, but at least the seaweed head was staying quiet.

Hiyoshi nodded. “Good.” He knelt down and pet Wilson. “I’ll see you in the morning then.” He wasn’t sure if he was talking to Kaidoh or Wilson. He didn’t like it when others took care of his things. Even if he knew Kaidoh was more than capable of doing so and it was only for one night. He mentally cursed at himself. He was not allowed to get so attached to an animal.

Kaidoh gave a polite little bow to Hiyoshi and took Wilson out, walking him on his leash. Glad he didn't have to be around that damn Kirihara any longer. Why someone who seemed as level headed and normal as Hiyoshi would affiliate himself with someone like that, it gave him a headache to think about it.

"You're really gonna start training with him?" Akaya asked with little frown as the snake boy closed the door, not pleased about this at all.

Hiyoshi turned and raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend’s tone confused. “Why? Do you have a problem with that?”

The bratty demon’s eye twitched and he looked away. "Che. Whatever," he shrugged and crossed his arms, acting like he didn't care. "You can do what you want..." As long as he approved of it first, damn it.

There was a smirk on the mushroom-head’s lips, then a soft ‘click’ as he reached over to lock the door. Not wasting any time, he wrapped his arms around the other boy’s waist, kissing the side of the grumpy face that was displayed to him. “You’re right. I can…” he said in a low voice as he proceeded to kiss his way from his cheek, down his neck.

As soon as that firm body pressed against him, Akaya groaned quietly and looked at him with a small pout on his lips. "If he tries anything, I'm gonna kick his ass..." he grumbled and tilted his head back to give Hiyoshi more room to work.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes, but gave into Akaya’s silent demand and thoroughly explored the area presented to him with his mouth, tongue and a little bit of teeth, then traveled back up over his chin, making his way to the other cheek, teasing his nose. “I doubt that will be a problem. He’s not a conniving demon brat.”

Akaya smiled a little, purring at the kiss to his nose. "Hey..." he chuckled and ran his fingers over Hiyoshi's sides teasingly, "I'm not conniving... or a brat..." he couldn't really deny the demon part.

Hiyoshi chuckled and shivered at those strong finger’s caresses. “Then I suppose I should leave right now, since you’re obviously not my boyfriend.” Their noses rubbed together in nuzzling Eskimo kisses.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi, pulling him nice and close. "You're not going anywhere," he teased and gripped his mushroom boyfriend's amazing rear.

Hiyoshi smiled as their bodies came together and wanted nothing but to lose all the layers separating them and bring them as close at two bodies could possibly be. Returning the embrace by wrapping his arms around Akaya’s shoulders, he clutched at his hair, having no intention of leaving any time soon. “Mm… After that stunt you pulled while I was on the phone, I should really be making this harder for you…”

"But it would be making it harder for yourself too..." the devious boy purred with a little grin, "And you want this as much as I do..." he whispered confidently and brought his hands to rest on the other man’s hips.

He hated it when Akaya was right. “Shut up, brat.”

Laughing, Akaya crushed their lips together and started undressing his boyfriend with a renewed vigor. It had been far too long since they'd had time to do this properly and he wasn't going to waste it.

Hiyoshi moaned and tilted his head to accommodate him as the slightly taller boy rammed their lips together. He kissed him back possessively, wanting more of him. “Ahh…” he breathed against Akaya’s mouth, moving one hand to clutch at a broad shoulder.

Urging them back toward the bed, Akaya worked on undoing and removing Hiyoshi's pants eagerly, not wanting to waste any of their precious time. As he dropped the pants to the floor he pressed Hiyoshi down onto the bed and reached up to the nightstand, digging out the lube that hadn't been used in a while. Far too long in his opinion.

Hiyoshi let Akaya lead and sighed in relief as his erection sprang free. An aroused chuckle left his throat as he was pushed back onto the bed but it turned into a low moan when he felt his boyfriend’s hardness press against him. He grabbed Akaya’s hips above him and pulled him harder against him to feel more of that heat. “Why… are you still wearing clothes?”

"I'm supposed to be the impatient one," Akaya mumbled with a little chuckle and sat back to pull off his shirt. "Take your shirt off too..." he added as he started undoing his own pants quickly.

Quickly removing his shirt as instructed, the sexually frustrated boy folded it hurriedly and put it on the nightstand beside the bed then turned to watch Akaya fumblingly remove his clothing with a small laugh. He grabbed Akaya’s chin and kissed him while he was still in the middle of trying to get his pants off.

Groaning into the kiss, Akaya returned it hungrily and wiggled out of his pants. Dropping them off the side of the bed without a care in the world as he pressed down against his lover again, groaning at the feel of skin on skin that he'd missed so much.

Hiyoshi arched slightly into the kiss, using his hand to pull Akaya closer, hungry for more. He slid his tongue through the demon brat’s lips, deepening the kiss. Akaya felt so good on top of him, his weight, his warm skin making him want to move and feel that familiar friction between them.

Moaning, Akaya slicked up his fingers quickly, not breaking the kiss for even a moment as he slipped his had between them to run over Hiyoshi’s entrance teasingly.

“Mm…” It had been so long since Akaya had taken him. He was both horribly excited and mortified that he was so eager for it, but his body new exactly what it wanted.

Pushing a finger in, Akaya moved down to nip and suck at his shoulder and neck, leaving marks all over perfect skin. "It's been too long..." he whispered, not wasting any time in getting his lover stretched out for him.

Hiyoshi’s eyes closed and his head fell to the side as Akaya marked him. His body automatically tightened at the intrusion, but he forced himself to relax and wrapped a leg around his lover, encouraging him to continue. A hand traveled down Akaya’s arm until he found the bottle of lube Akaya was holding. Taking it from him, he smeared his own hand and reached between them to take hold of Akaya’s twitching arousal, stroking and preparing him. "Heh… Think you can still manage it?" he chuckled breathlessly.

A bite on Hiyoshi’s shoulder was Akaya's answer as he pushed in a second finger and immediately curled his fingers up to press against his lover's prostate. He was in charge this time and wasn't going to take any lip about getting rusty from his beloved mushroom head.

The reaction was immediate. The strokes on Akaya stopped as he moaned loud and hard, his back arching as sensation flooded through his system. Point having been made and established, Hiyoshi looked up at his lover, breathing deeply with pleasure filled eyes, and grinned.

Akaya looked down at him and smiled back before kissing him lightly. "You want me to do more…? Or c-can I go ahead?" He asked in a strained whisper, cock dripping with want as he watched his boyfriend, aching to be buried inside of him.

Hiyoshi licked his lips and nodded; also aching from his own untouched arousal and need to feel that intense feeling again. He slowly parted his legs, blushing as he invited Akaya in. He had a feeling it didn’t matter how many times they did this, he would always feel self-conscious when in a position as open and vulnerable as this.

Moaning quietly, Akaya pulled his fingers out and positioned himself at his lover's entrance. Seeing Hiyoshi spread out below him, legs spread and waiting, always made him lose any semblance of control he had. After another light kiss, he pressed inside slowly; still trying to make sure he didn't hurt his lover since it had been a long time after all.

It hurt a little, but the feelings of fullness and satisfaction greatly outweighed any discomfort to the point that it was completely disregarded. His body relaxed in Akaya’s embrace and he wrapped his legs around his hips, urging him to go faster.

Taking the hint, Akaya pressed all the way in and rested there for a moment with a happy groan. His lover felt even more amazing than normal because it had been so long and he nearly lost it right then and there, but after distracting himself with thoughts of unsexy things like English, algebra, and his sister, he finally got control of himself and nuzzled Hiyoshi's neck.

With Akaya buried in him all the way to the hilt and just resting there, Hiyoshi thought he would go insane. He grabbed at his ebony locks and demanded breathily, “Nn… What the hell are you waiting for, brat?” Not waiting to hear a response, he assaulted his mouth with his lips. Any minute now he was going take matters into his own hands and make Akaya fuck him.

The Rikkai chibi demon didn't even have time to snort before his mouth was attacked by the other man, so instead he just groaned quietly and returned the kiss as his hips started up a slow pace that didn't stay slow for long.

Damn, it felt so good. Akaya’s thrusts picked up until he couldn’t tell if his muscles were crying out in pain or ecstasy, probably both. With almost every movement, he would lose himself more and more till there was nothing but this. It felt so good to be under and around him. He reached up to circle his arms around Akaya’s neck and clenched his muscles insistently around his cock, wanting his brat to feel every bit of pleasure he was giving him.

The bed creaked under them and Akaya's body glistened with sweat. His breathing was labored and he could barely hear over his pounding heart, but he was pretty sure it hadn't felt this good since the first time they'd ever slept together. He buried his face in the crook of Hiyoshi’s neck and moaned happily as their bodies moved together in a way he'd missed so much.

In the midst of it, Hiyoshi used his arms around Akaya’s neck to pull him towards him, nearly bending himself in two, but he didn’t care. He loved feeling Akaya close to him, and his breath on his face as their foreheads came together. He could almost feel every part of his lover as his body tried to not completely lose itself. With every thrust, small moans spilled unnoticed from his slackened jaw.

Those moans were like Akaya’s own little aphrodisiac soundtrack. Wrapping one arm around Hiyoshi’s waist, he lifted him, pulling him even closer so that his muscles flexed and relaxed against his lover’s body as he moved, his thrusts getting sporadic.

Hiyoshi barely noticed, lost in the sensations coursing through him, body shivering in anticipation for what it knew would come soon. His cries got louder and he continued to answer to Akaya’s movements as he rocked his hips harder to meet his. It had never felt this good before, and if it had, he couldn’t remember. He blindingly reached between them and began stroking himself clumsily.

Leaving a trail of marks over Hiyoshi’s collarbone and neck, Akaya groaned contently. He could feel relief coming and he charged toward it, hoping Hiyoshi wouldn't be too far behind.

Once the sensations became too much and he couldn’t hold himself back anymore, Hiyoshi’s body went taut, every muscle clenching tightly as he came hard between them. His head was thrown back and his back arched as he cried out, his body continuing to rock with Akaya’s thrusts as indescribable satisfaction swept threw him.

Akaya felt his lover clench under him and with a deep happy purr he rode out the other's orgasm, keeping his hips moving long enough to just watch his boyfriend’s face as it twisted in pleasure, then joined him. He came inside of him, filling him with a pleased moan before collapsing onto him.

Another moan escaped Hiyoshi’s already raggedly breathing lips when he felt Akaya’s release inside him, and when his hot weight landed on top of him he felt a warm feeling of gratification. “Mm…” was the extent of his verbal abilities at the moment. It took a few minutes to fully come back to himself and his arms moved around his love’s waist to hold him there with little to no pressure since all his strength had left him for the moment.

Akaya was content to just pant against Hiyoshi’s shoulder, his whole body quivering a little as he did. He couldn't even manage a 'mm'. It was all he could do just to keep breathing and not pass out from the exhaustion and pleasure that still made his whole body tingle.

Gradually, Hiyoshi came back to time and place. His head turned to the side to bury contentedly in dampened curls and his fingers slowly and lazily glided up and down toned back muscles, the familiar rhythmic breathing on top of him almost enough to lull him to sleep. “Mm… I think… we may need to have more than one dog sitter…”

Akaya let out a breathless chuckle, his heart finally slowing enough to let him start catching his breath again. "Yeah… I think you're right..."

“Or I could up the search in finding us an apartment with doors.”

"You know he'd still find a way to watch us," he laughed quietly and slowly pulled himself out of his lover, groaning quietly under his breath.

Hiyoshi winced at the feeling then groaned. “Fuck. I don’t think I can move.” He glared. “I’ll take him back.” His brain automatically blamed Wilson for the fact he was sore. It certainly didn’t have anything to with the fact he hadn’t been on the bottom in a long time.

"I guess I'll just have to carry you everywhere then, huh?" Akaya grinned and nipped Hiyoshi's ear gently.

The annoying brat was quickly swatted away. “That won’t be necessary.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to let go of the fur ball even if he wanted to. Sighing in resignation, he teased. “I should just get rid of both of you.” But that, he knew, would be even more impossible.


	51. Chapter 51

It was February 23rd. Kirihara Akaya and Hiyoshi Wakashi were having a lazy after class day, both wondering why they felt they were forgetting something important.

“Woah, that was a crazy hard shot... Did you see that, Wakashi?”

“Remind me again why we're watching this?”

“Cause it's the Olympics and we're supposed to support our country or some shit. Whoa! How the hell did they do that?”

“Japan isn't even competing. What is the goal of this sport, anyway? All their doing is throwing a big rock.”

“Well, not right now. They played earlier. They lost to Sweden though... and they'll play later against Norway.”

“Oh. Akaya?”

“Hm?”

“What's the date today?”

“The uh… 23rd?”

“Hn...”

“...Do you feel like we're forgetting something, too?”

“Yes. Is it your mother's birthday?”

“...Nah. She would have yelled at me by now for not calling.”

“...Were we supposed to meet Sanada-san for anything?”

“He would have come to yell at us by now. Did you have a doctor’s appointment today?”

“No! …Hand me that blanket.”

“Yeah, sure. Here.”

“Thank you. Do you have an eye doctor appointment?”

“No! I told you it's not pink eye!”

“Heh. Let me make sure. Hold still...”

“Ack! Get off of me! It's not damn pink eye!”

“pft... I told you to be good and hold still, brat.”

“No! Get away!”

“Do you really want me to go away?”

“...Don't be stupid, I just don't want ya poking me in the eye.”

“Are you calling me stupid?”

“I… Wait, what?”

“Though we are watching curling.”

“...Yeah...”

“Ugh... Shut up and come here. It's cold.”

“Heh, heh. The heater should be broken more often.”

“I didn't say you could talk. Watch your damn curling.”

“...Was there a show on we wanted to watch today?”

“No. Wait... is that English paper you have to write due by the end of today or tomorrow?”

“I have an English paper to do?”

“Yes. I said I'd help you with it.”

“...You aren't just gonna do it for me?”

“No.”

“Pllllleeeeeeeaaaaaaassssseeeee?”

“NO.”

“Damn...”

“If it weren't so damn cold, I'd kick your ass out the window.”

“Would not.”

“Would, too.”

“Nuh-uh... You love me.”

“I believe I am perfectly capable of kicking someone I love out a window if they're being an idiot. You'd be fine.”

“I don’t wanna sit next to you anymore… You're going to kill me.”

“Move away and I really will kill you.”

“You're cranky when you're cold.”

“Are you complaining? I thought you liked being close to me.

“No… I like being close, but you were the one talking about throwing me out a window.”

“I'd rather be warm and deal with your idiocies then kick you out and freeze. Fuck. Even my nose is cold.”

“I know something that would warm us up...”

“Hm?”

“Hot coco.”

“Mm... Can we order out for that?”

“I don’t think anyone delivers that...”

“...They should. Akaya, make us hot chocolate.”

“That would require me getting up...”

“...........”

“Or we could just have sex. That doesn’t require us getting up.”

“...Fine.”

\---

“Mm... So, brat. What the hell were we supposed to do today?”

“Nmn--um... I don't know... Vet appointment? “

“No... Wilson is with Kaidoh. He would have reminded me.”

“...Were you supposed to go home today?”

“If I was, I don't care.”

“I dunno then.”

“I don't know either. Change the channel and get us some hot coco.”

“But they're in End 9! Just one more if they can't tie it up!”

“......... “

“....What?”

“Ugh... Fine. I'll get the drinks so you can sit and watch your stupid curling.”

“Really? Thank you~!”

“You have to get off me first.”

“Oh... Damn. Alright...”

“...On second thought, I'll watch with you for a few more minutes.”

“I knew you'd end up liking curling.”

“No! I-justdontwannamove...”

“Heh, heh.”

“Stupid brat...”

“I love you too, Wakashi.”

Five days later they came to the realization that they had forgotten their one year anniversary.


	52. Chapter 52

Hiyoshi was sure he’d locked the door before he left. He’d only been gone for a few hours, only long enough to have tea with An. Any moment now he was going to start panicking. Where had his puppy gone? He’d looked in every corner and under every piece of clothing Akaya had dropped carelessly on the floor, and now he was going to hyperventilate at any moment. What if someone had taken him? What if he’d somehow figured out how to unlock the door and tried to run out looking for him? What if he got hurt or drowned or…

Akaya walked in from a completed mission with a big grin on his face. Sanada was going to be pissed at him, but it was sooo going to be worth it. Walking into his room completely calm he put his tennis bag down and looked over to his boyfriend who looked like he was having a panic attack. "...The hell? What happened?"

The flailing mushroom was worried he might be losing his composure… but he needed to go out and search for his puppy now! He had never felt this way before... His cute little annoying nuisance that took up a lot of his study time and made a mess worse than Akaya was gone. He… he didn’t know what he would do if something had happened to him…. What would Akaya do when he found out he lost him? Fuck! Akaya! He looked up at his boyfriend who just walked in with the panicked eyes of an overprotective mother who just lost sight of her baby. “Umm… I…”

"Wakashi… What's wrong?" Now Akaya was starting to panic. He walked over to his boyfriend and brushed a strand of hair away from his face. He really hoped something hadn't happened at home. He didn't know if he could handle someone dying or anything like that.

“I need to go out. I’ll be back later.” Hiyoshi sucked at lying and knew it, especially to Akaya, but he didn’t want to make Akaya worry if at all possible. Grabbing his jacket, he brushed past him on his way to the door.

"Oi, not until you tell me what's going on," Akaya said worriedly and grabbed his boyfriend’s arm. "Seriously, Wakashi, what's up?" He wasn't getting away that easily.

There was no way to hide it. Not only could he not lie to Akaya, but the brat always managed to see through his always perfect composure. He brushed away Akaya’s hand and wouldn’t look at him. In a grave voice, that almost cracked, he whispered, “I lost Wilson.”

At the sentence Akaya just paused and stared at him, trying to figure out if he was serious. He blinked a couple times and then couldn't help a little relieved laugh. "No, you didn't. He's in fukubuchou's room."

“WHAT!?” The martial artist swung around and stared at Akaya with wide eyes. “Are you serious?! Why the hell is he there? How the hell did he get there?!” If there wasn’t a good excuse coming, he was going to deck his boyfriend.

Akaya jumped back nearly three feet as his boyfriend turned on him. "Ack!" He stumbled over his feet and fell right on his ass. "I--I put him there… I wanted to help out fukubuchou and pull a bit of a prank. I—I didn't know you'd freak out about it…"

“I am not freaking out!!!” Okay… Maybe he was, a little, but… “Why didn’t you tell me?” He had thought he was going to have a heart attack.

"I was going to, but you didn't give me the chance!" Akaya inched back on the floor, trying to stay away from his overly protective and somewhat psychotic boyfriend.

Slowly the trembling subsided, and Hiyoshi’s heart rate and breathing slowed to match those of the man he both loved and was going to kill. Looking up at him with murderous eyes, he seethed, “Idiot! Next time you decide to take him, tell me before you do it.”

"Where the hell did you think he went? He's a dog. He can't go very far you know..." the bratty boy murmured, annoyed, though he knew he'd probably regret it very soon.

“HE COULD HAVE BEEN HURT! He could have gotten lost! He’s SMALL! What if he’d been hit by a car! What if he’d gone after the ducks again and drowned in the lake!” His fists were white and clenched. Somewhere, there was a little voice in his head telling him he might be over reacting just a little bit, but… did Akaya not care at all about the well being of their ba…. PUPPY!?

"How could he do that in the room?" Akaya asked, actually surprisingly calm despite his boyfriend's now unreasonable psychotic outburst. Someone had to be the sane one after all. "He can't unlock doors ya know..."

Hiyoshi stood there frozen at Akaya’s words, then suddenly, all the fight went out of him. His shoulders slumped over and he walked past Akaya to fall face first onto the bed. “I thought he got out…” He couldn’t help it, he was sulking and he knew it. He was being unreasonable and he knew it. Oh well. He had the sudden thought that if he was ever a father he would die very early in life.

Akaya walked over and sat on the floor next to him with a little smile. "And here I thought he drove ya crazy," he teased and kissed his boyfriend’s shoulder. "You must love him a lot to get that worried."

Hiyoshi’s face which was thankfully currently buried in his pillow turned red. “Don’t be an idiot! It’s just a stupid dog…” was his muffled reply. “I just didn’t want you getting angry at me for losing him.” Truthfully, he never thought he could get so attached to a pet. Why he had flipped out so much over Wilson being gone was a mystery to him.

"You know I would never get mad at ya for it," Akaya teased and cuddled up to his lover’s side. "Besides, that stupid dog loves you. He won't run off."

Peeking an eye out at him, Hiyoshi wondered if Akaya really thought so, but it sounded too stupid and weak to ask. Instead, he cleared his throat and sat up, resolved to pretend that little mishap never happened. “Why did you take him to Sanada’s anyway?”

"Cause fukubuchou's been upset lately. He likes dogs so I thought I'd lend him Wilson to hopefully make him smile and relax, ya know?" Akaya shrugged and stretched back with a little groan. He'd always been good at telling when his vice captain was upset and he usually knew a way to make him smile. It was just one of those things you figured out being his kohai for so long.

It was a good enough reason. Maybe he’d overreacted… but he couldn’t let Akaya think he was the only one at fault. Crossing his arms, Hiyoshi looked down at his boyfriend who was having a rare moment of acting all cute and insightful. No! He would not let the cute and insightful act distract him. “Che. I suppose your excuse is passable,” he used his authoritative tone, “but you still should have told me before taking him.”

"You take him on walks all the time without tellin' me. Don't worry so much Wakashi, really." The carefree demon brat smiled and rubbed his somewhat exposed belly with a little yawn. Maybe it was time for a good afternoon nap.

Non-plussed, the stubborn mushroom wanted to argue his point further but decided to let it go less he somehow manage to sound immature. Besides, he didn’t really want to argue with Akaya. Now that he thought about it, having Wilson gone for a little while did have its advantages.

Hiyoshi lay back beside his sleepy looking brat and pulled him close until Akaya’s head was resting on his shoulder. With lazily fingers, he brushed through his hair, letting the familiar action and the soft feel of his curls under his fingers relax him. “Tired?”

"A little," The other boy sighed happily and snuggled into the petting. "So what should we do now that we're alone?" he asked curiously and smirked as he nuzzled up to his boyfriend like a parent who just dropped their kid off at daycare.

“I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t involve a lot of noise. …Or other people, or leaving the room, or moving…” They were so close now that it should have been suffocating, their limbs comfortably tangling together until you couldn’t tell whose leg or arm was whose and he was perfectly happy with that.

"You don't care, huh? It certainly sounds like you care," mischievous lips teased quietly.

Hiyoshi chuckled. Earlier, while having tea with An, they’d happened upon the unfortunate topic of friends with benefits. Although he had no right to judge her, looking at how close and intimate Akaya and he were now, he once again thought that people who could do this with just anyone were crazy.

“Have you ever had a friend with benefits?” The question was asked at random before he fully realized the ramifications the answer might bring.

“Friend with benefits?" Akaya asked curiously and moved back a little to look at his boyfriend curiously. "Yeah... Why?"

He should have already assumed, but he tightened his old on Akaya unconsciously. “I was talking with An over lunch today and she told me she’s having a sexual relationship with someone that is only a friend. That makes no sense. If you’re already friends with someone then sleep with them, doesn’t that imply that they would then be in a relationship?”

"No... That just means they're getting what they need from each other. It doesn’t mean they're committed to each other. They just... are both tired of being lonely." He held his boyfriend reassuringly, hoping that his past wasn't bothering Hiyoshi again because it was the one thing he couldn't change.

That might’ve been the most absurd thing Hiyoshi had ever heard. “But wouldn’t that make a person even lonelier once it ended or if one of them found someone? Back in high school, Chou… How could you go back to being just friends with someone after something like that?” To some extent he could sympathize with people looking for casual sex with strangers with no strings attached. But, with a friend? He’d had a hard enough time being comfortable around Natsumi again after what happened. “I couldn’t do that.”

"What do you think it was that I had with Gakuto-chan?" Akaya asked curiously and watched his lover. "It's just... you get really attached through sex. You see it as a lot more emotional than a lot of people do." Akaya explained and then shrugged a little. "I'm glad you could never have a friend like that. I like you how you are."

Hiyoshi never got past the first sentence. His hold on him loosened and he paled. “Wait… You and Gakuto…?”

"You... didn't know?" Well... fuck.

“I think I’m going to be sick…” Hiyoshi was serious. His stomach was churning and he felt like he was about to gag. His boyfriend whom he had sex with on a regular basis had also had sex with the single most annoying pain in the ass person in his life. Yes, Gakuto had also been one of his good friends since middle school, but… ewwww… He stood from the bed in a hurry and made his way towards the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Akaya got up and looked at the now closed bathroom door worriedly. "Wakashi..." he called out and went over to the door. “Hey... Are you alright?" This wasn't good. He thought his boyfriend had known. He remembered when Hiyoshi first came to the university he was in the middle of one of his flings with Gakuto. He was sure the other had seen them kissing. He didn't know that he had no idea they'd been sleeping together since high school. He probably shouldn't add the since high school part. Gakuto was still one of his best friends and it wasn't like they slept together anymore. So why? Why would this bother Hiyoshi so much?

Hiyoshi managed to keep himself composed once he got to the bathroom and took a few deep breaths. He couldn’t believe neither of them had ever told him. Wait, scratch that, he wished he’d never been told at all. Gakuto had always been kind of like the annoying older brother he never wanted, and the idea of sleeping with him… bad, BAD thoughts. He took another few deep breaths.

Akaya just stood outside of the door and watched it, pacing a little worriedly, his face pale. He had a bad feeling in his stomach and wished he'd just kept his big mouth shut.

After Hiyoshi was sure there was no more threat to his stomach, he opened the door to find himself face to face with his boyfriend. Ugh… For the first time he could remember, he didn’t even want to look at him. His face wrinkled up in disgust. Unlike Akaya who seemed intent to know everything about his prior relationships, Hiyoshi was now one-hundred percent positive he did not. He walked past him without a word.

Akaya’s face paled even more until he looked like a very surprised corpse as Hiyoshi walked past him, looking at him like he was scum. He hated it. He wanted to run, to not look back and just run out of the building as fast as he could until he couldn't even breathe anymore and just collapse, but he had told Hiyoshi he would stop running from conversations that made him uncomfortable. It was just harder than he'd expected... Still, he had to try. "Wakashi..." he began hesitantly and turned to look at his boyfriend, body shaking from nerves. “I'm--I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner... I just… thought you already...”

The tone of Akaya’s voice immediately made Hiyoshi re-think his actions and he forced himself to turn and look at him. When he saw how pale his boyfriend was, he instantly went to him and gathered him in his arms. “You don’t need to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Who was he kidding? The real problem was that Hiyoshi was jealous. It was easy to ignore that Akaya had slept with so many people before him when they were just a bunch of faceless nobody’s that didn’t matter. It was not so easy when you put a face to the person, and that person definitely wasn’t a nobody to either of them.

As soon as his boyfriend’s arms wrapped around him, Akaya clung to him for dear life, relief suddenly flooding over him. He could breathe again and he buried his face against Hiyoshi's neck, shivering a little against him. "You just... looked so mad..." he murmured and closed his eyes, trying to breathe slowly and calm down his heart that was beating harder than if he'd just run 500 laps.

The guilt was rushing through the martial artist in waves. How could he let himself take his anger out on Akaya when he’d done nothing but tell him the truth? Even if it was a truth he didn’t want to hear, he should be strong enough to deal with it. He held him tighter and rubbed his back in long soothing motions. “I’m sorry. I just… don’t like to hear about you with other people… like that.”

"I'm sorry..." Akaya murmured and finally managed to calm down. Hiyoshi was good at throwing him into a panic, but he was also a master at soothing him. He relaxed against him and sighed quietly. "I'll be careful not to talk about it anymore..."

The first thought that came to Hiyoshi’s head was ‘Good. I never want to know who you’ve slept with ever again, and if I ever hear about you sleeping with Gakuto again, I’ll kill you both,’ but he’d learned his lesson from their problems of miscommunication in the past and he really didn’t want Akaya to think he couldn’t share things about his past with him. “Don’t. It’s my problem and you shouldn’t have to worry about it.”

Akaya nodded a little in understanding and finally pulled away a little, wanting to kiss Hiyoshi, but too scared to. He'd thought for a moment his boyfriend was going to leave him and it was one of the scariest things he'd ever felt. Now, he just didn't want to push his luck and actually lose the other man.

Akaya thankfully looked much calmer now, but there still seemed to be a hint of fear in his eyes. Trying to lighten the mood, Hiyoshi easily swooped Akaya up in his arms, threw him back on the bed and crawled on top of him. Once they were face to face, he rolled his eyes. “Relax brat. I’m sure if I suddenly started spouting names of people I’d been with before, you wouldn’t be able to take it perfectly in stride either.” That said, he moved in, slanting his mouth over his brat’s and coaxed his lips open with just the tip of his tongue, loving him with his lips, trying to show him that all was fine.

Akaya yelped a little in surprise and looked up at Hiyoshi in shock until the other kissed him. He opened his mouth to the other, letting his whole body relax under the gentle touches. He didn't agree with what his boyfriend had said. To him, who Hiyoshi had been with in the past didn't matter, but if that helped the other man and kept him from leaving him, then he wasn't going to argue.


	53. Chapter 53

Hiyoshi had known since his father had called demanding he come home on a weekday that this visit home would not be a pleasant one. Now, looking back on it, he knew he would have given almost anything to make it so he had never woken up that morning. He should have made up some kind of excuse, done anything… said anything… to get out of it. But he knew all that would do was postpone the inevitable, but wasn’t that what he’d been doing all along?

As he sat in the back of the taxi that was bringing him back to the school, he looked out the window with color blind eyes. The world had lost it color, its texture, its warmth. Had it been freezing with snow blanketing him in white frozen death, he doubted he would have even noticed.

His father had found out. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. Over the last few months the two of them had been less than stealthy with their affection for each other in public, a fact he whole heartedly blamed Akaya for with a smile. He had never been so happy in his life and doubted he ever would be again.

There had been knowledge in the form of dates and facts, of things the two of them had done together which he had no idea how his father got a hold of. There was even picture proof evidence. Though most of the pictures did not show them in anything but a platonic light, even he could see the love and adoration in his eyes as he looked at Akaya in the pictures.

In the end, he had been given an ultimatum. Give up Akaya or give up his family, his future, his pride. The choice would have been so simple. He wanted Akaya, damn the consequences, but he wasn’t that selfish. He loved Akaya and he would do anything to make sure he was happy. He hadn’t known he was even capable of this kind of love.

Oh, he was sure they could have been happy. He could have spit in his father’s face and told him to keep the dojo, keep his family, his pride. They would have been together and they could pretend that was all that mattered… but it would have been a lie.

Hiyoshi loved his art, always had. He lived and breathed for his art much the same way Akaya did for tennis. His father was a powerful man, one of the most renowned practitioners in the world. People came from everywhere to be able to study with him. Being his son and heir, Hiyoshi himself was not a figure people overlooked. If he was to walk away from his family, it would be the same as leaving his art forever. His father was a stubborn man and would see to that. Asking Hiyoshi to give up Kobujutsu martial arts would be like asking Akaya to give up tennis, which was something he would never do.

He had thought at one point that he could do it. If it was for Akaya, any sacrifice would not be too great, but the romantic notion did not fit in with reality. No matter how much he would try to hide it, in his heart he would always long for his art. Akaya was not an idiot. He would see his pain and longing and the guilt would eat at him. Slowly, they would eventually grow to resent each other over it.

Suddenly all his other insecurities over their relationship seemed so petty, so trivial. Any problems they’d had in the past were nothing but childish misunderstandings. This wasn’t a misunderstanding, it was a choice. Selfishly keep the boy he loved by his side knowing that in the end he may ruin him, or let him go and give him a chance at finding happiness… without him.

They were both still very young. Even if Hiyoshi was fated to be married off to a woman in a similar position as him, Akaya did not share that fate. Their separation would hurt Akaya; he knew it like a knife through his heart. Akaya would probably never forgive him, but eventually he would find someone else that could make him happy, someone that would always make him smile and not hurt him as he was so good at doing.

His heart hardened. There was no other choice but to let him go.

\---

There was ice in his veins. The numbness had taken over his whole body. It was as if his body had taken pity on him and shut down everything but what was necessary. His expressionless face didn’t even flinch when he opened the door to his and Akaya’s shared room and he found his boyfriend playing his video games as per usual. Thankfully, Wilson did not look to be there at the moment. This needed to be done quickly and efficiently, his brain deducted, they had class the next day and he shouldn’t stay up too late. “Akaya, we need to talk.”

Akaya glanced over his shoulder as the door opened, pausing the game with a grin. "Hey you're--" his grin slipped away immediately though when he saw the look on his boyfriend’s face. "Oh, um... alright." He scooted over on the bed and patted it. "Come sit down. What's up?"

Hiyoshi took his shoes off mechanically and stepped into the room, but did not take the offer to sit, instead stayed standing where he was. “I have spoken with my father and I agree with him that it’s about time we ended this.” It seemed to him like the words were coming from someone else’s mouth. “It’s been fun, but now I have much more important things to attend to and do not have the time to be distracted from my responsibilities.” All he could do was stand there and listen as he destroyed what was most important to him, using the same words his father had used only hours ago. “For what it’s worth, I sincerely wish you happiness in your future endeavors.”

Akaya just stared at Hiyoshi for what felt like eternity, trying to figure out what the hell his boyfriend was saying, and then it hit him. "What...?" he murmured, then felt a wave of fury wash up inside of him. "What the hell do you mean, it's time we ended this?!" he snapped and got up to grab Hiyoshi’s collar. "It's been a year and now you're just throwing it away?" He felt his eyes welling up already and he gritted his teeth. If this was a joke it was the worst one he'd ever heard.

Without pause, the martial artist used his superior strength to remove Akaya’s hands on him and turned to his closet to pack a small bag. “I realize the fact we live together might now be an inconvenience. I will of course strive to stay out of your way until other accommodations can be arranged.” His back was so straight and so stiff that if he’d attempted to bend over, it might have broke.

"Don't fucking bother!" Akaya snapped and threw open the door as he slipped on his shoes, "I won't be here..." he growled and walked out, not wanting to be anywhere near Hiyoshi right then. “Stupid fucking mushroom head!" he cried as he ran down the hall, wanting to be anywhere but there. This couldn't be happening. It had to be a bad dream. Just a bad dream... but why couldn't he wake up?

The minute Akaya was out the door, Hiyoshi started to shake. It continued for a full minute before his whole frame was shaking with restraint. To an onlooker it might have looked like he was laughing and hiding his face. He was trying so hard to keep the tears back, to keep himself from running after him. Any moment now he thought he might start hyperventilating and pass out. He welcomed the thought.

\---

Akaya had run as hard and fast as he could. He had run all over the school, trying to exhaust himself past the point of being able to think. He didn't want to be able to think about or feel anything other than the painful pounding of his heart or the burning of his lungs. Once his wish was granted, he made his way back to his room, panting and sweating heavily.

All he could hear as he limped through the halls was the ringing in his ears, the endorphins from running keeping him from wanting to just throwing himself down the stairs. He knew he couldn't stay in his room anymore so he planned on just grabbing what he needed for him and Wilson then go to Sanada's room. He knew he could always seek refuge with his grouchy fukubuchou. Wakashi would eventually realize he was an idiot and come get him, right? Right?

Opening the door, he walked in, still looking ready to collapse from exhaustion and automatically went to his closet, not even thinking as he started throwing stuff into a bag.

After Akaya had run out, Hiyoshi had all but collapsed on the floor. If he had managed to pass out he wasn’t sure. Time made no difference to him. He wondered idly if his outside exterior felt just as cold and dead as the inside of him. It was a wonder his heart hadn’t stopped altogether.

When Akaya came back, Hiyoshi was still in that same spot on the floor and almost didn’t notice him. He forced his body to stand and regain some semblance of control. “You’re back.” The words flew out, still icy stiff as if coming from a statue. If he allowed anything else, he would have broken down in front of Akaya, and that wasn’t acceptable. Akaya looked like a mess, and usually Hiyoshi wouldn’t hesitate to go to him and comfort him in any way he could… but he couldn’t. It was as if there was a wall separating them and he wasn’t strong enough to break it without breaking himself.

Hearing the other’s voice, Akaya jumped a little and spun around to face him. "Yeah... I had to get stuff for Wilson and I..." he frowned and glared at him. "Sorry to bother you..." he answered just as coldly, trying to hide that all he wanted to do was hug the other man and cry.

He turned back to the closet and kept blindly shoving things into his bag, trying not to give into the urge to yell at Hiyoshi and demand a reason for all of this. If he ever saw Hiyoshi's father he was so going to… err… have Sanada kick his ass!

Hiyoshi didn’t know what to say; if there was anything he could say. He wanted so badly to reach out and hold him it was physically painful, more painful than anything he could ever remember experiencing. When Akaya mentioned Wilson it was like another stab to his chest, but he knew he didn’t deserve the comfort his puppy might afford him; besides, it wasn’t his puppy anymore. “You… never bother me.” At least he could say that. Even if they couldn’t be together, he never wanted Akaya to think it was his fault.

The angry green eyed demon closed his eyes and stopped packing before taking a deep slow breath. “Wakashi... What... Why are you doing this?" he asked quietly, his whole body tired and wanting nothing more than to just collapse and sleep. Thinking hurt, feeling hurt, even breathing hurt...

If he had to look at Akaya like this for one more minute, Hiyoshi was going to fall apart. He closed his eyes. “It’s for the best.”

Akaya opened his eyes again and looked at his lover. "For the best? For who? Because I know it's not for me, and it doesn't sound like it is for you either."

That was it. Hiyoshi couldn’t take any more. He could not appease either of them nor could he continue to tear himself apart. He could not have Akaya, he knew that, but he wanted him so much… It was too much.

His eyes sprang open with vehemence at his helplessness. "Of course this isn’t what I want! This was never what I wanted, but it’s what has to be! Leave it alone or you’ll drive me mad! Damn it… I think I’m already crazy." An escaped tear ran down his cheek but he refused to acknowledge it. “I won’t be the one to destroy your life, and I won’t drag you down with me. So don't presume to know what I’m thinking, Akaya… It's over."

Akaya just stood there and took the brunt of his lover's yelling with a rather calm expression, until he saw that tear. He moved closer slowly and watched the man he loved. "Drag me down with you? What are you talking about?"

“My father found out about us. I don’t know how, but he told me to either leave you or give everything else up. My family, Kobujutsu, everything…” It was out. He’d had to tell him or risk his sanity. He turned away and covered his face so Akaya wouldn’t see any more of his weakness. “The bastard could do it. He could take away everything. I don’t… I don’t know what else to do. I don’t care about my fucking family… but… my art… if I lose it…”

Now he understood. Akaya swallowed hard and hugged Hiyoshi from behind, taking in a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry, Wakashi... really... I'm sorry..." he murmured and gave him a little squeeze before going back over to pack his bag. "I... You made your choice. So, I'll uh... I'll see you around..." Hiyoshi’s art was important to him and he knew he couldn't take that from him. With a choked sigh he just packed up his bag. "I... if you change your mind... you know how to get a hold of me..."

Akaya’s touch burned. It scorched through his numbness and made him choke on his own air. When Akaya pulled away, Hiyoshi felt his body stiffen again with the ice he knew to be freezing through his veins. His didn’t know what was more important, if you could even compare, but in the end he could see it would make them both miserable and he wouldn’t do that to him. He loved him. “I’m sorry…” It was whispered so low that it may not have been heard and more silent tears fell down his face. He couldn’t turn to face him as he waited for Akaya to leave him.

"I love you, Wakashi..." he mumbled and pulled the bag over his shoulder. “Bye..." He took a deep breath, tears rolling down his face too as he walked over to the door and opened it.

Hiyoshi gasped on a silent sob and his frame shook. “I… love you… too.” He could never lie to him and say otherwise. He had hurt him once by not saying so... The only silver lining to this was he would never be able to hurt him again. There was some comfort in that. He steeled his resolve but didn’t turn around. “Good bye.”


	54. Chapter 54

Over the last few days since Akaya had left, Hiyoshi had just been going through the motions: eat, sleep, homework, train… on repeat like a programmed robot to keep himself going. It was surreal, as if the last year had been nothing but an elaborate wonderful dream, then reality came knocking.

After much deliberation, he was now on his way to Sanada’s where he was sure Akaya was staying to bring him some of his things. He honestly didn’t think he could handle seeing the other boy just yet, if he ever would be. Nonetheless, he arrived in front of Sanada’s door and stanchly knocked.

Sanada opened the door and looked down at Hiyoshi in surprise. He hadn’t expected to see the younger man whom he’d come to see as another kouhai, not after Akaya had come to him the way he had. “...What are you doing here?” He used his foot to keep Wilson from bolting out the door.

“Is--is Akaya staying with you?” When he saw Wilson trying to get to him, Hiyoshi so badly wanted to pick him up, but tried not to show weakness or be intimidated.

“Ah... I heard about you two.” There was no helping it. The large man stepped aside and commanded firmly. “Come on in.”

Hiyoshi didn’t budge. “I just came to give you some things he'll want.” He held out a bag of clothes and a few other things for him to take.

Reaching over, Sanada practically dragged the smaller martial artist inside then closed the door, finally letting Wilson leap all over Hiyoshi.

Hiyoshi tried to protest but was immediately distracted by puppy love. He instantly picked him up and held the little fur ball close, letting him slobber all over him to his little heart’s content, for the first time not minding at all.

Sanada set a hand on Hiyoshi’s head. It was his way of being encouraging, though it wasn’t his strong point. “Set the stuff on the futon then tell me what's going on.”

At least the older man didn't immediately try to kill him, was Hiyoshi’s first thought, putting the bag on the extra futon. Though Sanada being so nice made him feel kind of uncomfortable and he almost wished for the opposite. Seeing an Akaya sized lump on the extra futon made him abruptly look away. “I told him it was over.”

“I'm aware of that. How come?”

He really didn’t want to have to go through this again. “My father found out. I didn't have a choice.” He continued to pet Wilson who seemed happily snuggled to him, still licking him and wagging his tail. There was a small feeling of comfort, no matter how short it may last.

“Hn. I see. I'm sorry to hear that. How have you been?” The older man knew how Akaya had been. The ear splitting headache he’d been sporting from his clingy kohai’s crying was testament to that, but he was curious to know how the other half was doing, and if there was any way to rectify this, if only to save his own sanity.

Hiyoshi looked at him with a heated glare, the first real emotion he'd shown since Akaya left. “How do you think I've been? I had to tell the person I love that we couldn't be together.” Wilson barked in his arms reacting to his anger.

“...You're taking it well I see...” Sanada replied flatly. “Look, if you feel so strongly about him, then maybe you should tell your father the truth and that you can't leave him.”

Afraid he’d accidentally crush Wilson, Hiyoshi put him down and replied icily, “Yes, and be disinherited by my family and the world of Kobujutsu martial arts? Become completely useless? What kind of future would I have? Would we have? Assuming he would even want to stay with me once I become useless.”

Sanada stared. “You realize Akaya still has a hard time pronouncing the martial arts you do and just calls you a ninja, right? Do you really think he would leave you because you stop doing it officially?” Why were his kouhai idiots?

Hiyoshi smiled bitterly. “You don't get it, do you? What else could I do? Kobujutsu is my life. What I’ve always known I wanted to do with my life. My father is the fucking head of our school! I wouldn't be able to practice officially OR unofficially. It could possibly even affect Akaya’s future in tennis. Could I ask Akaya to give up his goal of being a pro tennis player? Of course not! ...And even if I did give it up... after a while, I would be miserable. And Akaya... do you really think he wouldn't care to see me like that?”

Sanada replied rather simply. “My father and grandfather are two of the most well known names in kendo. They have blacklisted me from dojo all over the country. I still practice Kendo and I still test to move up in rank, despite everything. Are you weak enough to let your father’s decisions and words destroy you? Hn, apparently I thought you had more pride and strength than that.”

Hiyoshi stood straighter, anger in both his eyes and stance. “And you will never have your own dojo, and if you do, your students will be blacklisted as well and never be able to compete in larger tournaments. I AM NOT WEAK. I am protecting my future and Akaya’s by doing this. I am well aware that I may never be truly happy...” his voice cracked but his determined look held “...but at least I know he can.”

“You really think he can be happy without you? You're right. I may never have my own dojo. I can't compete in the larger tournaments yet, at least not until my father and grandfather die,” which he hoped was soon, “but I can be with the person I love. Even if his situation is complicated and frustrating, I can still be with him and that makes me happy.” He gestured to the futon. “Akaya hasn't stopped crying since you left him. He just lies there all day. I finally made him get out and take a shower.”

A half crazy chuckle escaped at the idea of waiting for his father to die to be rid of his restrictions and Hiyoshi had to gulp down the well of emotion he felt at hearing about Akaya crying more because of him. “He's strong,” he choked out, “he'll find someone who can make him happier than I can. Didn't you yourself tell me that I hurt him too much?” Yes, there was still a fair amount of bitterness there.

“Ah, but you know he loves you, more than anything. If you asked him to give up tennis, he would do it in a heartbeat. I've never seen him that dedicated to anything before and I'm sure I never will.”

Hiyoshi’s face went white and he felt like he'd been punched hard in the gut. “You… you don't know that... No. And I would never ask him.” He didn’t want to hear any more. “I’m leaving.” Without another word, he left out the door, hearing Wilson's barks behind him.

\---

Sanada’s words rang through Hiyoshi’s skull and pounded like a drum. “He loves you, more than anything. If you asked him to give up tennis he would do it in a heartbeat. I've never seen him that dedicated to anything before and I'm sure I never will.” It hurt, and scared him to think what Sanada said was true, but he couldn’t let those words sway him. He’d made his decision and had to see it through.

He’d made it most of the way back to his own dorm before he realized he’d been followed. When he finally recognized the familiar bark, he stopped and felt little paws trying to climb up his leg. Bending down, he scooped Wilson up and carried him the rest of the way to his dorm. He would have to return him to Sanada’s, but it would have to wait until he at least got his bearings again.

Even though he hadn’t done much that day, he entered his room already feeling exhausted. Wilson looked very happy to be back in the room, scampering around and barking happily. On the other hand, if Hiyoshi had the resolve to move out, he would. The room was full of memories of him and Akaya. Akaya had framed and hung photos of them on the walls, from Christmas, Disneyland, and others. More than once he’d caught himself staring at them and had to steel his determination not to break down.

It wouldn’t be until the next day he would feel ready to go back to Sanada’s, and in that time neither Sanada nor Akaya had called to ask about Wilson so he assumed they knew he was with him.

“Come on, idiot. I have to take you back now.” He didn’t have Wilson’s leash, so instead just opened the door and waited for Wilson to come to him as usual… but the puppy didn’t budge.

“Wilson, let’s go,” he called again. Wilson just barked at him. Sighing, he went over to pick him up, but fur ball ran away before he could catch him. “Stupid… pain in the ass… puppy.” Wilson generally always gave Akaya trouble, not him.

He finally got a hold of him after basically having to pounce on the bed, but not before Wilson took something with him. Clenched in his mouth of very sharp teeth was Waka-kumo. “Put him down!” he commanded sternly, trying to pull the disgruntled looking teddy bear gift he’d received from Akaya away without tearing it, but Wilson was stubborn like his parents.

“FINE. Keep it.” He took both Wilson and Waka-kumo with him out the door. He would take it back before he dropped him off.

Arriving at Sanada’s door again, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. If Akaya was there, he didn’t know what he would do. Hell, he didn’t know what he would say to Sanada either after their last encounter. He gathered his will power and knocked softly on the door, but received no answer. Honestly relieved, he remembered Akaya saying once that Sanada never locked his door since everyone he knew, knew how to lock pick anyway.

Against his upbringing, he tried the door handle and found it was indeed unlocked. Good. He would just leave Wilson there and… The unexpected sight of Akaya stopped him in his tracks. His adorable bratty demon was curled up in a ball on the futon looking to be fast asleep. The blanket for once had not been completely thrown off him and was instead tangled around his legs while his strong muscular arms wrapped around the bulk of it. The little light that shined on his face from the open door illuminated him, showing the tear stains that marred his features.

Even with the marks, he couldn’t take his eyes off him. He couldn’t help himself. As if in a trance, he walked forward till he was kneeling beside him. The tears he’d been holding back since Akaya had left came back to the forefront and his breathing became labored in his attempt to bite them back and not make a sound. He wanted to hold him, wanted to lie down beside him and gather him close and tell him… and himself, that it was all a bad dream and they could go home now.

Without his permission, a hand reached forward and lightly touched his love’s hair which he’d always run his hands through at any opportunity. When had he put Wilson down? It didn’t matter. He continued to just barely graze his fingers over those soft curls, makings sure never to pull too hard or touch his skin less he wake him up and destroy this moment he craved.

“I miss you…” The quiet, hopeless words which normally would not have been loud enough to be heard cut through the silence of the room like a knife and he thought he saw Akaya stir in the dark. Gathering his wits, he broke away from the invisible force holding him there and looked over at Wilson who was now wrestling in a corner with Waka-kumo.

It was time to leave. He took another deep breath; the trick was to focus on inhaling and then exhaling. He had to control himself. He had to resist. His heart clenched in his chest painfully. The feeling was starting to become natural. As quickly as possible, he stood and left, closing the door silently.

\---

Akaya had missed having his puppy around, but Sanada had explained that Hiyoshi was taking him for a while, so he wasn't worried. He was jealous, but at least he knew Wilson would be nice and safe with his ex-boyfriend. Like he had for the past few days, he waited until Sanada was gone to visit his secret boyfriend (who wasn't really a secret, but whatever) then cried himself to sleep, wishing Wakashi was in his arms.

He was awakened though by the sound of someone entering the room who wasn't Sanada. He panicked internally for a moment but then heard the familiar steps of Hiyoshi and decided to pretend to be sleep. He wanted to see what the other would do, and besides, it was too painful to even think about facing him.

When that hand touched his hair it was all he could do to not start crying again. He kept his breathing even and slow, but when those words filled the quiet room, "I miss you," he couldn't stop the tears anymore. He was careful not to let the other notice he'd woken up, but he couldn't help a quiet little sound as he curled into more of a ball on the futon.

The door opened and closed again and all he heard was the rustling of Wilson as he played with something in the room. "I miss you, too..." he murmured and started crying all over again, wishing they could just go back to how it used to be. This was a cruel, cruel torture.


	55. Chapter 55

Hiyoshi couldn’t believe this. He was going back to Sanada’s room again and all because he’d forgotten his stupid bear. At first he’d decided to just leave it, it was just a stuffed bear after all, but… it was one of the few presents he’d ever received from Akaya, and he’d grown annoyingly attached to it’s disgruntled bear face who’s color matched his hair but looked nothing like him whatsoever – it didn’t matter what the brat said. If he was lucky, maybe Akaya hadn’t noticed it and he could just slip in and take it without being noticed. Once again, he knocked on his kendo senpai’s door and hoped for no response.

In Sanada's room, Akaya had fallen back asleep, this time on his fukubuchou's bed with one hand holding the DVD remote and the other clutching Waka-kumo nice and close. He heard the knock but just groaned a little and curled up more on the bed, not wanting to wake up and have to face the world. He hadn't done much of anything since the break up. He'd skipped classes and even tennis practice in favor of hiding in Sanada's room. He didn't know how Waka-kumo had made it to him, but it smelled like Hiyoshi and it had been one of the few things that helped keep him from crying now.

Like last time, there was no response, but Hiyoshi knew better than to assume no one was there. He silently opened the unlocked door and carefully entered the room. The first thing he did was check the futon to make sure Akaya was not there, which he wasn’t, good. He also noticed Wilson was strangely absent; maybe Akaya had taken him out on a walk. It wasn’t until after he shut the door and took his shoes off that he even noticed Akaya asleep on the bed. Shit! He couldn’t go through this again… There should be a rule about seeing your ex too soon after you broke up with them.

His heart caught in his throat and he almost immediately turned tail to leave, but then he saw the reason he’d come in the first place nestled in his boy—ex-boyfriend’s arms. Creeping closer, he deliberated on what he should do. Damn it… What was he supposed to do? If he couldn’t have Akaya, he at least wanted his Waka-kumo! As smoothly as possible, he reached out to try and gently take back what was his… and in the process not be distracted by Akaya’s closeness and how good he smelled and how much he wanted to…

At the sound of the door opening, Akaya stirred more, but kept his eyes closed because he could tell it wasn't Sanada. When the person got closer though, he realized it was Hiyoshi. He could smell him, and remembering what had happened last time he faked sleep, he opened his eyes. It was the first time he'd seen his boyfriend since the breakup and he wanted to cry, but instead he just clutched the bear closer and took the hand that was extended out toward the bear in his own so Hiyoshi couldn't run.

When Akaya’s eyes opened, it had the same affect as if his feet were glued to the floor. The beautiful green he’d missed so much stared up at him, locking him in place. “I… uh… came for my bear.”

"That's it?" Akaya asked and sat up, still holding the bear securely against his side. He knew Hiyoshi didn't want this anymore than he did, but he didn't know what he could do. He couldn't fix Hiyoshi's family. The touch of the other’s skin left his body feeling soothed and safe, but he knew it wouldn't last long. Hiyoshi would leave and he'd be cold, scared, and alone again.

Just the simple touch of Akaya’s hand against his seemed to warm his whole body and put another crack in his frozen armor he’d worked so hard to build. He didn’t deserve it, nor could he afford it. His voice steadied again and he gently but firmly pulled away from Akaya’s hold. “Yes, please give him to me.”

Akaya sighed quietly as Hiyoshi pulled away and held the bear protectively. "Why should I?" he grumbled and looked back at the movie, having no idea what was going on.

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at Akaya’s stubbornness. The brat had to know how hard this was for him. His words were cold and clipped, “Because he’s mine, brat, so give him back.”

"Make me," was the answer without missing a beat, eyes watching Hiyoshi challengingly. Hiyoshi wasn't the only one having a hard time and Akaya wasn't about to back down and make it easier for the man.

A vein pulsed in the mushroom’s forehead and he felt like tearing his hair out, or Akaya’s. “I do not have the patience to deal with this right now. Give me back the damn bear Akaya!” His arm struck out and took hold of a fuzzy leg and tried to drag it back to him.

Grabbing Hiyoshi's hand, he pulled the impatient man onto the bed and sat on his stomach, straddling him. "Make me, Wakashi," he snapped like the pouty spoiled boy he was.

Anger being a relieving emotion compared to everything else he’d been feeling lately, Hiyoshi didn’t even notice the position they were in since it was one he was all too familiar with. He just narrowed his eyes. “You’re being ridiculous and unreasonable. It’s my bear!”

"Then why was he here?" Akaya asked accusingly and stared down at his boyfriend, holding the bear above his head protectively.

Hiyoshi’s face reddened, in anger or embarrassment, he wasn’t sure. “It doesn’t matter… I didn’t know you were so childish that you took back gifts when things don’t go your way!” If he could have seen himself he might have realized he sounded every bit as childish as he was accusing Akaya of being. As it was though, it was taking all of his self control not to let all of his anger out at the situation and throttle Akaya right there… or kiss him.

Using his superior strength, Hiyoshi managed to push Akaya backwards into a sprawl on the bed. Leaning over him, he tried to reach the bear. “You don’t see me trying to take Wilson back!” ‘That’s right,’ he thought, Akaya already had his puppy. He wasn’t going to get his teddy, too.

"I didn't take Waka-kumo back! You didn't care enough about him to even notice he was gone! He came to me on his own! And besides! You stole Wilson!" the chibi demon snapped and glared up at his ex-boyfriend. He wasn't going to take the blame for everything.

“Stuffed animals don’t leave on their own, stupid! And of course I noticed he was gone! Why the hell else do you think I’m here?!” He glared down at him almost nose to nose. For the thousandth time he cursed Akaya’s height advantage. “And I did NOT steal Wilson. He came running after me!”

"Yeah right! That's why you had to sneak back in to bring him back!" Akaya cried loudly, barely resisting the urge to kiss his ex senseless even though he was annoyed and pissed off at him.

Hiyoshi’s breathing deepened and his voice lowered as he realized just how close Akaya’s lips were to his and felt the warmth of his breath on his face, but the heated glare and angry voice did not falter. “I snuck in because I didn’t want to have to face you!” Wait? Akaya had known he was there?

"Why not? You were the one who ended it. It's me who shouldn't want to have to face you..." Akaya growled in a quiet huskier than normal voice, his eyes not moving from Hiyoshi's though they longed to flick down to his ex-lover’s lips.

“Because I still love you, you stupid brat!” Efforts were paused to get his bear back after the truthful words flew out unexpectedly. It was then he also noticed how much his body was naturally responding to Akaya’s closeness and that tone he was so familiar with. His head hung above Akaya’s, face bowed and body stiff. He breathed out low and raggedly. “I thought… it would be easier…for both of us… if we didn’t see each other.”

Akaya felt those words wash over him and catch him off guard. They weren't what he was expecting, but they weren't unwelcome. "Nothing will make this easier..." he whispered, his hand finding its way to the back of Hiyoshi’s head to pull him in closer, their breaths mingling as their lips got closer and closer.

"Akaya, I swear if you're still asl----" Sanada paused at the open door and raised an eyebrow at the scene of the two boys about to kiss on his bed. He really needed to never enter a room they were in alone. It always ended with him seeing so much more than he ever really wanted to.

With Akaya’s hand guiding him, it was the most natural thing in the world to close his eyes and let everything else disappear. Their lips hadn’t even met yet and he could already taste him… Then Sanada’s voice shook him back into reality. The invading voice cut through to his conscience and he shot up off the bed. Shaking with restraint, he tried to get back his control. “Sanada-san… th—this isn’t what it looks like.”

Sanada sighed quietly and walked over to take the bear from Akaya before handing it to Hiyoshi. "This is why you're here, isn't it?" he said almost gently as he looked at the mushroom headed boy he'd somehow ended up adopting as a kohai.

On the bed, Akaya just sat there, his curly hair covering his eyes as he pouted quietly. Sanada always had the worst timing ever.

Hiyoshi nodded and took the bear solemnly, miserable eyes looking over to Akaya every few seconds. “Thank you, but…” He walked back over to the brat he loved and held it down to him, saying in a soft voice, “You can have it. You already know if I could, I would give you anything you wanted.”

"There's only one thing I want, Wakashi..." Akaya murmured and gently urged the bear back to his ex-lover. "Take him... He's yours anyway..."

Well, this was awkward. Sanada looked away from the two that were making him very, very uncomfortable. He suddenly wished Wilson was there to help with the tension, but the little mutt was at Kaidoh's room playing with his sister. Damn it.

What Hiyoshi most wanted to give him, but couldn’t. Frustrated and disappointed there was nothing he could do to ease the pain for either of them; he tucked the bear safely in his arms and forced himself away. Turning to Sanada, he bowed low. “Sorry for the intrusion.” Shoulders stiff, with no other words, he quietly let himself out.


	56. Chapter 56

Hiyoshi had noticeably lost weight and there were bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. The one time he’d gone home, his parents had almost ignored him entirely, though he preferred that to the lecture he’d expected. Actually, his father surprised him by acting more kindly toward him than usual by giving him space and not pressuring him into duties while he was home. His mother on the other hand wouldn’t even look at him.

It had been three weeks, three whole weeks since the last time he’d seen his… the brat. After their last encounter, spring break had followed and Hiyoshi had taken the opportunity to escape to Europe to see the one person who might offer him some form of comfort. Being with Choutarou had been both good and painful. On one hand, his friend had kept him from passive aggressive suicide and convinced him to attempt living again. On the other hand, that actually meant living, which he seemed rather pathetic at doing without the curly haired demon around.

Now back on campus, it was another one of those nights of too much thinking and not enough sleeping. Finally giving up, he figured he might as well go to the gym and work out until his body stopped listening to his brain. He usually only went to the dorm gym in the mornings but it would still be open.

Akaya had been spending far too much time in the gym lately. He knew it wasn't good for him, but it did let him stay up past nine, which was when Sanada seemed to decide to slip him a sleeping pill. He still couldn't figure out how the guy did it either. Screw being a samurai, his damn senpai was a ninja.

Tonight was no different from other nights. He sat in the gym, lifting weights and trying to distract himself from the pain that still lingered in his chest. He hadn't seen Hiyoshi and hadn't sought him out because he knew he couldn't handle it. Not yet. When the wound healed a little, he could try, but he knew that would not be for a long time, if ever. He was doing his best to do the only thing he could for his ex-boyfriend now, leaving him alone to fulfill his duties. His family was more important--his stupid martial arts were more important.

Getting up, he added twenty more pounds to the butterfly press and pulled off his sweat soaked shirt until he was just wearing his old Rikkai shorts, curly hair matted to his head.

Walking into the gym, Hiyoshi didn’t notice him at first, too absorbed in his own world to pay attention to his surroundings, which for a martial artist was unacceptable, but he really didn’t care. He placed his towel and water bottle on the side bench before turning around to directly face the person who haunted all his thoughts. His eyes widened and for a moment he thought perhaps he had fallen asleep after all.

Akaya heard the door open and close, but didn't care. Sometimes he saw Sanada in the gym late, but who he saw made him nearly pull a muscle. His throat went dry and his eyes turned the size of dinner plates. He stared for a long moment before trying to scramble to his feet, only to trip over the leg of the machine and fall on his face. That time he definitely pulled something.

Their eyes connected for a split second and Hiyoshi froze, for that second he was convinced it was a dream. Then Akaya fell flat on his face and he knew otherwise. His body reacted immediately. He rushed forward and leaned down beside him, voice croaking out. “Are you okay?”

"Yeah..." Akaya mumbled, hiding his embarrassment behind a disheartened grumble. Okay, maybe he wasn't hiding it very well, but he was trying. He started to get up then felt his ankle give a sharp stab of protest and he fell right back over. "No..."

“Idiot, let me look at it.” Any other thoughts that might have been going through Hiyoshi’s head left him as he gently but firmly took hold of Akaya’s foot to inspect it. He took off his shoe and sock to lightly feel over his ankle.

Akaya pouted a little because Hiyoshi's touch burned far more than any twisted ankle ever could, but he humored the other man and held still. "It's fine…" he murmured, though he knew the other wouldn't listen to him. He was too damn stubborn and a worry wart.

Akaya’s face was red and pouting, and combined with his sweaty condition, he looked ridiculous. It was the best sight Hiyoshi had seen in ages, and for a moment, all the pain went away. He chuckled, his thumb unconsciously massaging the side of his foot. “Klutz. Who trips over large inanimate objects? Looks like you twisted it good. We should get an icepack for it, and you should stay off it for a few days.”

“It jumped out in front of me..." The klutzy demon boy mumbled and watched Hiyoshi’s hand on his foot. It sent tingles up his spine and he couldn't hide that he enjoyed the soothing feeling. "I'll ice it when I get back to the dorm."

Rolling his eyes, Hiyoshi was about to make another comeback when he noticed Akaya looking at what his hands were doing. He stopped abruptly and let go of his foot. “Sorry.” He said awkwardly, feeling the pain start to seep back in and tried to fight it off. This was no time for him to be weak. “Do you… want help back?”

"It's fine..." Akaya murmured, reaching out to take Hiyoshi’s hand and putting it gently back where it was. "Give me a minute, then... yeah. Help would be nice." Akaya didn't want to accept help, he probably didn't actually need it, but it was an excuse to spend time with Hiyoshi and that wasn't something he was about to turn down.

Hiyoshi’s head bowed, looking down at where his hand was laid back on Akaya’s foot. Slowly, he continued to massage the area around where it was hurt, trying not to stare too hard at the skin he wanted so badly to touch. Not able to meet Akaya’s eyes, he asked quietly, “Are you still staying with Sanada?”

"Yeah..." Akaya watched Hiyoshi, not at all trying to avert his eyes. "It sucks there though." He grumbled and let out a quiet sigh. "He slips me sleeping pills if I'm up past nine. I dunno how he does it."

That brought a small smile to Hiyoshi’s lips, and he would have chuckled if in a different situation. He was glad to hear Akaya was being taken care of. At least one of them wasn’t being pathetic. For lack of anything better to say, he asked, “How is tennis going?” He internally winced. Well, at least he’d the sense not to ask about school.

"It's alright." Akaya answered quietly, hating that they were reduced to making stupid small talk to spend time together. What he wanted to do more than anything was throw the other boy down and kiss him until neither of them could breathe anymore, but... he knew he couldn't. He had to respect his boyfriend--ex-boyfriend's choice.

There was an awkward pause where Hiyoshi didn’t know what to say. It was absolutely ridiculous, and more than a little irritating. He never had problems talking to his—the brat. After a moment, he gave up. With a frustrated sigh, he put Akaya’s foot down and stood, holding out his hand for him to take.

Akaya took the other man's hand and stood carefully, his ankle giving a couple pangs of protest before he got himself steady. Frowning, he gingerly put weight on the ankle and limped over to his bag. "I'll uh... I'll get going so you can work out..."

Hiyoshi frowned. “I said I would help you to the room.” Deciding to leave his own stuff for now, he walked over to Akaya and took his bag from him. “You’re not going to limp back like that by yourself. Sanada would kill me.”

The chibi Rikkai demon couldn't argue that, so he just nodded a little. "Yeah, alright," he mumbled and started towards the door, still comfortably shirtless.

Hiyoshi watched Akaya limping and winced again, an internal fight battling within him. Oh, fuck it. He didn’t care if he regretted this later. “Stop, idiot. You’re going to hurt yourself worse walking like that.” Shouldering Akaya’s bag, he knelt down in front of him.

Akaya paused and looked at his ex with wide eyes for a long moment before slowly climbing on, heart beating a bit faster when he pressed up against Hiyoshi's firm back. He was so damn muscley and comfortable and... he even smelled good. This was going to be torture.

The familiar feel of Akaya’s body and heat were pressed against him and Hiyoshi had to take deep even breaths to continue breathing normally. He could feel Akaya’s heart beat through their connected bodies and it seemed so loud to his ears he wasn’t even aware of his own racing heart. He cleared his throat and secured Akaya’s legs. His voice failed him as he forced himself to concentrate on getting to Sanada’s room.

Akaya nuzzled against Hiyoshi’s neck, arms draped over his shoulders as he tried to keep himself composed. He wanted to cry, scream, laugh... anything, but knew he had to be good. Still, he couldn't help dropping a kiss on Hiyoshi's neck as they stopped in front of Sanada's room.

It took all of Hiyoshi’s self-restraint to stay in control. Akaya nuzzling against him like that certainly didn’t help, and when their journey that was both too short and too long ended, the small fleeting kiss on the back of his neck sent a rippling shiver down his spine. He wanted to scream at the idiot brat who made him feel this way while at the same time shove him against the door and show him how much he missed him. Instead, he just bent down to let him off. “Is Sanada-san home?”

Akaya shook his head a little and leaned back against the door, taking his weight off of his ankle as he watched Hiyoshi. He wanted to be good, to not try and break Hiyoshi. He could tell the other was struggling, and that he wanted him more than anything right then and the truth was he felt the same way. He had told himself he'd be good, but before he'd realize it, he was looking at Hiyoshi with those deep green bedroom eyes that told the other just how much he wanted him as well.

Hiyoshi knew that look. God, he knew that look, but he couldn’t give into it. If he did… all of this would have been for nothing. All of the pain he’d put Akaya through over the last month would be completely meaningless. Nevertheless… “Since he’s not here, I should help you in at least. …In case Wilson tries to jump on you, or if you need anything.” Excuses, all excuses, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet, and if Sanada wasn’t there it was only right to make sure Akaya was taken care of properly, right?

"Alright... Come on in." Akaya opened the door, purposefully letting himself lose his balance because he knew he wouldn't fall. The other wouldn't let him. Hiyoshi was fast, much faster than him, and he knew from first hand experience that he was much stronger too.

As predicted, the moment Akaya seemed to lose his balance, Hiyoshi reacted. In a flash, he stepped forward into the room and caught him around the waist, holding him securely against his chest. The feel of Akaya pressed up against him in his arms after so long was such a shock to his system. His eyes stared straight into Akaya’s and his breathing grew heavy. “You are such… a klutz.”

"Sorry..." Murmuring lips were only a few inches from Hiyoshi’s as Akaya’s voice dropped, nearly reaching that husky tone. He wasn't sorry at all. He wrapped one arm around Hiyoshi's neck and just stayed there, pressed against him as he closed the door behind them with his free arm.

Hiyoshi closed his eyes, not able to take the passionate gaze directed at him without losing his restraint, but it just made the feeling of his love’s body and breathing against him that much more real. His eyes opened again to stare intensely back at him, his hand reaching up to desperately clutch at curls. “This… this isn’t okay.”

"I know..." Akaya whispered and pressed closer before moving his lips just a breath away from Hiyoshi's, his sharp eyes open and fixed on his former lover, watching him carefully for his reactions. He wouldn't close the gap, he couldn't do that to Hiyoshi, but he would definitely encourage it.

It was so unfair, how could Akaya do this to him? Put him in this situation? He wasn’t strong enough, not when he… and the gap closed between their lips. Desperation hit him as he devoured the other’s mouth with such fervor that teeth clashed and noses bumped. Tongues escaped and nothing mattered since it was his brat that he was consuming for all he was worth.

Akaya moaned into that kiss, returning it with the same unbridled passion because he'd missed this. He'd needed it so badly for far too long and there was no way he was backing down now. Knowing the other could support him, he lifted his injured leg up around Hiyoshi's hip and waited for the other to get the hint that he wanted to be picked up.

Hiyoshi had been starving and finally, finally, he had what he wanted. Still fiercely holding him in his grasp, he didn’t even need the hint. He hauled him up, chasing his lips if they ever got too far away like a starving man. Akaya’s legs wrapped around his waist and he squeezed that firm ass in his grip, carrying him a few steps blindly until he was pressing him up against one of the walls.

Akaya gasped against Hiyoshi's lips as his back hit the wall and a deep moan made his chest vibrate. He was already rock hard under those far too thin shorts and he couldn't help grinding against Hiyoshi.

An answering moan echoed his partner’s and Hiyoshi bit down on Akaya’s bottom lip before continuing to leave a trail of bruising kisses and bites down his chin and over his neck, tasting that salty skin and sweat that drove him crazy. His hips responded in kind, grinding back against Akaya’s, forcing them brutally against the wall.

It was everything he'd missed and more. Akaya didn't mind the roughness at all, it simply drove him madder with want and he bared all of his neck for Hiyoshi to do with what he wanted. He wanted the marks, the bruises. Anything Hiyoshi would give him, he'd take greedily.

The intensity was overwhelming and Hiyoshi buried his face in Akaya’s neck, moaning his love’s name as he fucked him through their clothes, rubbing their groins together to get that delicious friction he hadn’t felt in so long. But even more than that, Akaya was clinging to him in a way that told him how much he needed him, too. One small tear trailed down Hiyoshi’s cheek and he didn’t care if they never moved from this spot as long as he never had to let him go.

"Take me," Akaya whimpered, one hand burying itself in Hiyoshi's hair. He felt that tear on his skin and it broke his heart. This was cruel--to both of them--but part of him hoped that this could help fix everything. That Hiyoshi would realize that they needed each other and that they could find a way.

His heart raced at Akaya’s words. “You know that’s a bad idea.” Hiyoshi said brokenly, hips slowing in their rhythm but his crushing embrace did not let up.

"Wakashi..." Akaya whimpered again, feeling and sounding like he was on the verge of a full breakdown.

That tone did break him. Hiyoshi covered Akaya’s mouth with his own so he wouldn’t have to hear it again, kissing him slower and deeper than he had before. They slowly sank down the wall since Hiyoshi’s legs seemed to no longer want to support them and he began tearing at Akaya’s shorts. There was the sound of cloth ripping but whether it was from Akaya’s shorts or his own clothes, he didn’t know or care.

As they slid to the ground, Akaya moaned into the kiss and spread his legs as soon as he was free from the shorts. He clumsily tried to get the shorts off of Hiyoshi and wrapped his fingers around that familiar length, massaging him into full hardness quickly.

Hiyoshi moaned loudly into the kiss as Akaya touched him and quickly moved his hand off him. Instead, he twined their fingers together, pulling Akaya into position half leaning against the wall. He pulled back from the kiss, eyes fixed on Akaya’s face as he started to enter him at an unbearably slow pace.

Letting out a deep loud moan, Akaya pressed more against him, wanting him to move faster. He wrapped one leg around his hips and pulled him closer, trying to make him just press inside. "Wakashi..." he whimpered against his lips and sucked on the lower one gently.

Akaya wanted him to go faster but, “I’m not going to hurt you,” Hiyoshi stated resolutely. He kissed Akaya’s lips tenderly and steadied his hips, trying not to give into temptation and just ram into him. They had nothing for lubricant and if he somehow managed to hurt the person he loved even more than he already had… he wouldn’t be able to handle it. Besides, the warmth was slowly sucking him in and every moment was to be treasured.

Akaya let his head fall back against the wall with a groan as he focused on relaxing his muscles. He could handle doing it this way, without prep or lube, and he could handle it a hell of a lot faster than this, but it was Hiyoshi's choice... That, of course, didn't stop him from moaning throatily and trying to pull the other in faster. "You won't hurt me..."

Hiyoshi was already having a hard enough time keeping himself in check without Akaya encouraging him to be rough. He was trying to be good, damn it. He was trying to appreciate this. Trying not to tie him up and ravage him till his heart felt whole again. “God damn it, Akaya!” Hiyoshi bit is bottom lip and looked into his ex-boyfriend’s begging eyes. Oh hell, neither of them had ever been the gentle type, and if that’s what Akaya wanted… that’s what he would give him.

Pulling out of him altogether, Hiyoshi hastily stood them both up and whirled Akaya around against the wall, positioning himself behind him. Without pause, he plunged back inside of him, crying out as the tight and searing hot feeling of completion overwhelmed him.

That was what he wanted to hear. Akaya knew what was coming as he was lifted off the floor and let out a cry of pleasure as he was slammed into. He dragged his nails over the wall and moaned wantonly, though he took enough care to make sure his weight stayed off his injured ankle.

Hiyoshi grabbed Akaya’s hips, wasting no time pounding into him uncontrollably. He breathed raggedly into the back of his neck, laying kisses down the back of it, needing to touch and feel as much of him as possible, needing this to last.

Akaya gripped at the wall, breathing between moans, as Hiyoshi took him hard. It was even better than he remembered. He moved back against him as much as he could, meeting those rough thrusts hungrily, Hiyoshi’s name rolling off his lips and mingling with his moans of pleasure.

He never thought he’d hear those sounds again. Hearing his name like that only urged Hiyoshi faster, spikes of pleasure shot up his spine with every thrust. He wanted to hear more. A hand moved to firmly grip Akaya’s length, loving that familiar solid hot weight in his hand, stroking him hard and fast just the way he knew Akaya liked it, moaning at the feel of him, loving him.

It was so wonderful, Akaya knew he couldn't hold on for much longer, but he did his best. It was all too much, the urge to give in to the pleasure, the love he was feeling, the ache in his chest. He wanted to cry, but instead just called out his lover’s name and came harder than he could remember, his legs turning to jelly almost instantly under him, but he didn't worry, because he knew his lover was there and would support him. He wasn't alone.

Feeling Akaya’s release and, oh god, the way he called him… There was no choice but to follow. Hiyoshi drove into his lover frantically, holding him up and pounding him against the wall, caught in a whirlwind of his own pleasure until he finally collapsed against him. It was like dream, a long beautiful messy dream that he never wanted to wake up from.

Akaya felt that heat pool in him and moaned quietly, gripping the wall to try and support both of them on his good leg, though it was getting increasingly difficult. He panted quietly, trying to clear his fuzzy pleasure intoxicated brain, but to no avail. Finally, he just gave up and enjoyed the feeling of the other man against his back.

Burying his face at the base of Akaya’s damp curls, Hiyoshi inhaled their mingled scent of sweat and sex greedily. His body was heavy against Akaya’s but slowly his conscience caught up with him, remembering Akaya’s hurt ankle among other things.

Using what was left of his strength; Hiyoshi pulled out of his lover and turned him around. The expression on Akaya’s face… he had almost forgotten how beautiful he was like this. He placed a few breathless kisses on his lips before picking him up and carrying him the short distance over to the small futon he’d seen him using before. Gently placing him down on top of the blankets, he kissed him again. On the forehead, between his eyes, his nose, his lips… “Stay here,” he whispered and moved away toward Akaya’s bag.

Akaya didn't mind being carried, didn't mind the ache or the odd sensation of Hiyoshi's seed in him, but he couldn't accept being told to stay there, alone, after all of that. He sat up and climbed to his feet, wincing a little, before limping after Hiyoshi. "Wait... don't go..."

When he heard Akaya and saw him limping after him, Hiyoshi’s eyes widened and he quickly went to support him. “Idiot! I told you to stay.” He brought him back over to the futon again. “I’m not leaving yet,” he tried to re-assure him. That Akaya would come after him in his condition made his heart ache. Even if he’d been planning to leave, he would no longer have been able to. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Akaya watched him and sat obediently on the futon. "Alright..." He nodded a little and waited. If the other man didn't keep his promise he was going to come find him and kick his—okay, he couldn't kick his ass... but he'd make him very, very sorry he didn't keep his promise... somehow.

Seeing that Akaya was going to stay this time, Hiyoshi went back to Akaya’s bag and took out the two small towels he knew would be there and dampened them in the sink. He didn’t know when Sanada would return or how long he could get away with staying there, but he promised not to leave him yet and wouldn’t.

First he used one of the towels to quickly clean the wall then brought the other back to Akaya. Bringing it to Akaya’s forehead, he slowly ran the cool cloth over Akaya’s skin, wiping the sweat away then slowly let it travel down Akaya’s body.

Akaya shivered a little at the first touch of the cloth, but after that he let out a comfortable little sigh and just let the other man clean him off. It was soothing to be taken care of so carefully and he smiled contently.

It was nice, more than nice, taking care of him again. Hiyoshi watched in silence, soaking in Akaya’s pleased smile that put his heart at ease for the moment, watching as little by little the evidence of their activities were wiped away. Angry red marks stood out on his skin from where he may have gotten a little carried away and he blushed guiltily, but couldn’t bring himself to regret it. He cleared his throat. “You need a haircut.”

"I do...?" Akaya asked curiously, sounding like he always had, as he raised his hand up to a curly strand to pull on it. They were getting pretty long... "I'm not the only one," he teased and reached out to run his hand through Hiyoshi's hair. "Your hair's gonna end up like that Taki guy from your old school if you're not careful." He grinned mischievously, knowing that would make Hiyoshi get his hair cut soon, if not just pull out some sharpened weapon and do it right there.

Hiyoshi growled and pinched the inside of his thigh. “Take that back, brat. I do not and will not ever look or be anything like… that.” The idea of having anything in common with that weak girly boy was grounds for seppuku.

Akaya yelped and wriggled a little bit away before laughing. It felt so good to laugh.

Hiyoshi grinned back and finished cleaning him off, but then realized that meant it was time for him to leave. “Do you have anything I can wrap your ankle with? …Do you want me to take you to the showers so you can finish washing off? Will Sanada be here soon so there will be someone to take care of you? Have you eaten? Should I call out for…” He was rambling at this point and forced his mouth shut and started cleaning himself off hurriedly, admitting to himself that he just wanted any excuse to stay.

Akaya smiled more and wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi's neck when the other had finished cleaning himself off and nuzzled against the side of his head. "There's medical tape in the desk drawer. I'm fine. Fukubuchou doesn't come home every night, I think he's been spending it with his new boyfriend, the one he's not telling anyone about. I haven't eaten since about three, and you don't need to call out for anything... The only thing you need to do is stay..." he murmured contentedly, having gotten used to Hiyoshi's little ramblings over the past year.

The only thing he needed to do according to Akaya was the one thing Hiyoshi really shouldn’t. He turned and kissed the side of his love’s head then unwrapped himself from Akaya’s hold to stand and go to the drawer where the medical tape was and brought it over to take care of his ankle. Scowling, he tried to think seriously about what he should do. No, it was obvious what he should do, but what would he do?

One thing was for certain, whether he came home or not, he couldn’t stay in Sanada’s room all night. It wasn’t right since he hadn’t been invited, and besides, he wasn’t technically supposed to be with Akaya at all… but Akaya hadn’t eaten dinner and he had to make sure he did just in case Sanada didn’t come back. Once he was finished taping his ankle, he went to the phone and dialed from memory the Chinese place he knew Akaya liked to get take out from and ordered all of his usual favorite things that could last him a few days.

Akaya sat by somewhat patiently as his ankle was bound and watched Hiyoshi, feeling quite sated until his stomach gave a disagreeing rumble. Before he could say anything though Hiyoshi was already on the phone ordering enough food for an army and his eyes lit up. Finally! Good food!

Akaya had decided he and fukubuchou should never live together because neither of them could cook to save their lives. Akaya had gotten better, but really only at breakfast food. When it came to dinner and lunch, the two bachelors were rather helpless and it was pathetic. Akaya hoped that whoever the hell Sanada was dating could cook better than Sanada did. If Akaya had to survive another week on instant ramen he was going to go demon mode and kill something.

The order was placed and Hiyoshi went back to sit next to the futon. His body felt so much more relaxed than it had in weeks and he wanted so badly to curl up on the futon with Akaya. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten a whole meal or slept the whole night through, probably when Choutarou had forced him. Finally giving in half way to his body’s needs, he let himself lay back on the floor. His eyes closed and he breathed in deeply. “So… Sanada-san has a new boyfriend he’s not telling anyone about?”

"Yeah... he's been lookin' a lot nicer than normal," Akaya moved over to snuggle up to Hiyoshi's side and watched him. "He gets all smiley and doing nice stuff for me and that kinda thing. It's kinda creepy," he laughed quietly.

Hiyoshi should have known Akaya would come to him, he was a demon brat who excelled in pushing his luck, and now they were both on the floor. He snorted, “Sanada-san, smiley?” The idea was disturbing. “I better leave sooner rather than later then or I might die of shock.” Sighing, he shoved Akaya over back onto the futon and joined him. He hesitated for a moment then pulled Akaya into his arms half on top of him how they always used to lay, his hand threading through wild curls. A small smile touched his lips and he could pretend for a moment they were back at home. “Where is Wilson?”

"Sanada-fukubuchou took him over to that Mamushi guy. Something about getting his shoe chewed on one too many times..." Akaya smirked evilly because he knew Sanada could never be mean to a dog, especially not one as cute as Wilson.

Hiyoshi chuckled and his hand continued running through Akaya’s hair, it having the same calming affect it always had on him. He wanted it to continue, but he knew if he let it, it would just be harder in the end. “Akaya, when the food gets here, I have to go.”

"No you don't," Akaya said with a frown and clung to Hiyoshi like a barnacle, refusing to let go. The martial artist would have to carry his gimpy ass around forever if he tried to leave.

“I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes. “This shouldn’t have happened.” Nothing had changed. He had been weak and let Akaya tempt him. He should just be grateful that Akaya had let him hold him again. “I should go before I make this worse.”

"Wakashi... don't..." Akaya whispered and gripped even tighter, "We--...we can find a way. We just... we have to try harder, ya know? There's always a way..."

He couldn’t listen to this. Hiyoshi’s hand stilled and he sat up, but Akaya’s grip on him brought him up with him. “Haven’t I already hurt you enough?” He asked brokenly. “After everything I’ve put you through in the last couple of weeks, would you really be willing to take me back just like that? Sooner or later my family will find out again.”

"Why wouldn't I just take you back?! Idiot! I love you! Of course I'm going to take you back!" The bratty demon snapped and smacked him on the shoulder. "There's a way! We just gotta look harder! Your family doesn't control the world, Wakashi."

Surprised by Akaya’s outburst, Hiyoshi smiled sadly and took the hand that hit him and kissed it. When he felt the hold on him lessen, he pulled away to stand and dress. “You don’t understand. You don’t know my family… what being disinherited would mean for me, for us. There would be nothing left for me. I would be completely useless to you. …I don't want to do that to you.”

"Useless?! What the hell do you think I want you for? Money or something?!" Grabbing his pillow, Akaya threw it at Hiyoshi’s head before getting up again, the pain a lot less now that his ankle had some support. "I want to be with you because you're you! And stop telling me I don't understand! I understand perfectly! You're too damn scared to be with me! What else do I need to understand?!"

The pillow hit Hiyoshi wide eyed and he knocked it to the side, flushed with the beginnings of anger. “Yes, I’m scared! I’m scared I’m going to fucking ruin your life if I stay with you. I don’t--“ A knock at the door abruptly cut him off and he felt like punching his fist through it.

Pulling his pants the rest of the way on, Hiyoshi yanked the door open and quickly paid the nervous looking delivery boy for the food before slamming it closed. “Here’s your food,” he said snappily and placed it on Sanada’s desk.

Akaya was about to argue when food distracted him. With a little glare, he limped over to the food and pulled out a little baggie of spring rolls, taking a bite of one before turning his glare on Hiyoshi again, taking a moment to remember what the hell they were talking abut--oh right--ruining lives. "You think you can ruin my life?! When did you get so cocky? Your family can't ruin my life and neither can you." He took another bite of his spring roll. "Oh, and by the way, you damned chicken, you're not getting rid of me so easily!" Wow, the spring rolls were good today.

“Who the hell are you calling a chicken?!” Hiyoshi spat and grabbed the bag from Akaya and took a roll out for himself as well. “Who’s the one who’s been cooped up in here for the last month and had to be fed sleeping pills?” The spring roll was really good and he suddenly felt famished, like he hadn’t eaten in forever. He took out one of the rice bowls and a pair of chopsticks.

"You're the one who dumped me!" Akaya snapped back and finished up the rest of the spring rolls. "So don't even try and pull that on me, you anorexic mushroom."

Glaring, Hiyoshi shoveled the rice into his mouth furiously, chewed and swallowed, then slammed it back on the desk. “Don’t call me that, stupid brat! I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t barged into my life! Made my brain waltz right out of my head! I might as well of handed you my heart on a silver platter and said ‘here, fuck up my life as much as you want!'”

"Oh well, excuse me for falling in love with you. Sorry it fucked up your perfect little plan," Akaya growled at him and picked up a container of cashew chicken and a pair of chopsticks. "I didn't know you sucked so much at controlling your emotions. It's expected of me to lose it, but no, you're Mr. Perfect martial arts guy--ha! You've done a great job of fooling everyone, congratulations! You know what? If you wanna go live your perfect little lie and hate yourself every day for it, go ahead!! But know that you're not making anyone happy except your stick up your ass parents! Not you, not your wife, sure as hell not me. If that's how you want to live your life, FINE! Every day when you gotta wake up to your sucky little unhappy existence, just remember that you threw away your chance to be happy!" Setting down the chicken, he walked over to Sanada's mini fridge and grabbed out a beer he'd stashed there earlier before sitting on the futon and taking a long swig of it, his having turned bloodshot at some point during his tirade. "Stupid mushroom for brains..." he murmured and rubbed his eyes on the back of his arm, suddenly very aware he'd just been arguing completely naked.

Hiyoshi stood frozen as Akaya’s voice flew at him. Anger boiled in his every nerve. Walking steadily over to the futon, he grabbed Akaya’s beer from him and crumpled it in his hand. “You… Do you think I wanted to leave you for my so called perfect little plan? Do you think I did all this for me?! I didn’t leave you for my family! Or even for kobujutsu! I would have given them all up in a heartbeat! Fucking selfish BRAT!” He couldn’t think straight any more and even Akaya’s bloodshot eyes didn’t deter him.

Akaya’s eyes had started turning their natural color again until his beer was grabbed from him. Oh, that was it. He stood and shoved Hiyoshi away from him with that little spurt of adrenaline powered anger. "Oh, I'M THE SELFISH ONE?! Then why DID you leave me?! If it wasn't for any of that shit, what was it for, Wakashi? Just for fun?" This was not good. If he didn't calm down he was going to snap into demon mode without even meaning to. It had been over a year since he'd done that. He didn't want to regress. He needed to stay strong.

“For fun…? Fuck you! I already told you! I did it for you, idiot! What would you do if you had to choose between me and your family, plus never playing tennis again?! How do you think that would make me feel? What if you had regrets? Knowing I was the one who took all that away from you?! I didn’t want to do that to you! I didn’t want to put you in that position!” He was shouting, and all that anger was probably being heard by the whole building.

Down the hall Sanada was on his way back to his room when he heard two familiar voices yelling. With a sigh, he stopped and turned in his tracks, starting back down the hall.

"Sanada-san... What's…?" Kaidoh blinked as he heard yelling and saw Sanada walking toward him with an almost amused look in his eye.

Sanada put a hand on Kaidoh's shoulder and lightly pushed him toward the stairs, giving a little warning glare at Wilson who sat by Kaidoh's side. "You don't want to know," he said simply and led them both far away from the drama going on down the hall. He was going to have to find somewhere else to stay for the night.

"Oh! So are you saying I can't take care of myself now? That I can't handle being in that kind of position?! I AM NOT A CHILD! You don't have to treat me like one!" Akaya yelled and hit his open hand against the wall. "You didn't even talk to me first! You heartless ass! We're a couple, we're supposed to work through things together! So don't go deciding what I can and can't handle!"

Any minute now Hiyoshi was going to break something. His fists clenched so hard that it broke skin, but he was too irate to notice. “FINE,” he snarled. He approached Akaya and brown eyes stared directly into bloodshot ones, taking deep even breaths to try and not lash out.

“Akaya. My parents have given me the choice between them and inheriting the dojo or you. If I stay with you it would also mean giving up all their financial support as well as there is a possibility of me going insane since I’ll never be able to compete or teach in martial arts ever again. However, I love you, and if you still want me, I’m willing to stay.”

"What makes you think you'll never be able to do it again?" Akaya asked quietly, trying to mimic Hiyoshi's calm seriousness. "They can't control anything to do with the sport outside of Japan. And financial support? You're not a kid and neither am I. We can handle money problems. Most normal people have them, damn Hyotei brat…" Akaya mumbled the last part and stared right back into Hiyoshi's eyes. "So, what do you say? Are we going to do this?"

A vein threatened to pop on the mushroom’s forehead as Akaya continued to tell him what a fuck up he was and he really wished his shurinkan were handy… but then Akaya asked the question. It was stated like a challenge. Hiyoshi never backed down from a challenge, especially one he so desperately wanted to win. “Yes.” He finally conceded, glaring challengingly right back at him. “If you’re game, so am I.”

"Good," Akaya said sternly, with an almost sadistic smirk, and then pulled Hiyoshi into a bruising kiss, sealing the deal. And people thought he wasn't mature, ha!


	57. Chapter 57

After a few hours of debating (aka fighting) and making up for lost time (aka make-up sex), Hiyoshi and Kirihara had finally reluctantly agreed to keep their getting back together a secret for the time being. Though they both wanted to be together and for Akaya to come home, Hiyoshi was finally able to convince his impatient boyfriend that it was in their best interest to keep the information away from Hiyoshi’s family at least until the end of the semester. That would give him time to prepare for his inevitable cut-off from the family and their support.

If the last few weeks had been hell, the following weeks had to be something like purgatory. The few times they managed to even catch a glimpse of each other, there either wasn’t enough time or it was too public. And though it could just be Hiyoshi’s paranoia, the soon to be disowned marital artist was constantly watching for anyone suspicious that might have been sent by his father to check up on him. Nevertheless, though it was hard to still be separated, this was a large improvement to their situation over all.

“Only a month left...” Hiyoshi whispered to himself as he left class on his way to lunch. School was the one true constant in his life and it gave him something to focus on. If anything, he’d started taking his studies even more seriously now that he wouldn’t have his family’s backing and knew he would need to start from scratch to make a good life for him and his brat in the future.

“Kirihara! Give it back you son of a bitch!”

Hiyoshi’s head sprang up at the name. His “secret” boyfriend was running down the pathway towards him, looking back over his shoulder as Kaidoh came chasing after him. In his hand he was waving a pink bandana that could only belong to his usually bandana clad friend. Was that a hello kitty print on the bandana?

“Heh heh, what's the matter mamushi? Can't keep up?” Akaya laughed before taking a hard right, tripping over a clump of grass, and face planting right in front of someone. “Ow...” He looked at the familiar looking feet curiously and followed the legs up to... “Wakashi! Take this! Run!” He held the bandana up to him.

It did indeed have a pink hello kitty design on it. Hiyoshi took the bandana while chuckling. He ignored Akaya’s pleas and stepped over him towards Kaidoh who was giving him both an annoyed and hopeful look and held it out to his morning jogging partner with an amused smirk. “This is yours?”

Kaidoh stopped in front of Hiyoshi, face bright red. “Y-yeah... Thank you.” He swiped his personal property out Hiyoshi’s hands quickly, embarrassed as all hell.

“Heh. You’re welcome.” Hiyoshi couldn’t help his snickering and tried to hide it behind a hand.

Their bandana-loving somewhat snake like school mate gave Hiyoshi a little nod and Kirihara a threatening glare before starting back towards the dorm.

“Traitor...” Akaya mumbled from the grass.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “What did you want with a pink kitten bandana? Try out Kaidoh's look?” He imagined Akaya wearing a pink bandana, which only caused more snickering.

Akaya glared and got up to brush himself off. “No, but it’s fun to get him all riled up. He hisses like a tire with a leak.”

“You're mean.”

“You're just realizing this?”

The only response the curly haired boy got was a smirk as his boyfriend walked up closer to him. Closer and closer, leaning forward as if to say something… or kiss him. Akaya swallowed hard, his heart rate starting to pick up more than when he was running, and waited with wide eyes. Hadn’t they decided not in public? Not that he was complaining… Then Hiyoshi abruptly pulled back and started walking away. He blinked. “Eh???”

Just as Hiyoshi had predicted, once he’d started walking away, his too easily bewildered boyfriend started following after him. He walked down a hall full of students, then down another smaller less crowded hall, looking around out of the corner of his eye. He then walked into a classroom, closing the door behind him.

Akaya stopped at the door his weirdo boyfriend had just went into and looked at it curiously, then went in after him a moment later. Just as the door clicked shut behind him, a pair of arms came out from behind and grabbed him around the waist. A low voice whispered into his ear. “Boo.”

The mushroom headed boy chuckled as Akaya jumped and yelped in his arms, muffling his cries quickly with his hand. He hadn’t thought that would actually scare him. “Brat. You knew I was in here.”

“So! I didn't know you were going to try and give me a heart attack!”

“Quiet down, idiot! Unless you want the whole school to know we're in here.”

“I'm not that loud. Besides, the halls are loud...” The curly-haired boy pouted then turned around to glomp right back onto his boyfriend. Stupid mushroom scaring his own boyfriend… and he’d called him mean!

“You're always loud. You couldn't be stealthy if you tried.” Hiyoshi chuckled and kissed Akaya’s forehead. He’d just wanted to find somewhere they could be alone, at least for a little while, without getting caught.

Akaya acted like his normal childish self and stuck his tongue out at him, causing Hiyoshi to smile. He hadn’t smiled this much in a long time and it was starting to hurt. Shaking his head, he tried to push him away. “Alright, let go him me. You're not allowed to put me in a good mood.”

“Eh? Why not?” the chibi demon pouted.

“Because I have to go visit my family the day after tomorrow, and if you make me too happy I won’t be able to convince them I'm still miserable.”

“I think you'll do just fine.” Akaya laughed then kissed him, happily claiming his lips with his own and teasing them with cheerful little nips. If this was all the time he was going to get with his boyfriend, then he was sure as hell going to make the most of it.

Hiyoshi kissed him back with a smile, enjoying his kisses, but didn't let them linger. He’d actually been quite serious. If one of his parents even got a hint of his happiness then they could be in trouble. He pulled away grudgingly and sat down on a desk.

Trying to distract Akaya so he wouldn’t pout at him, he asked quickly, “Is Sanada back yet?” He’d heard his kendo senpai had been gone for a few days and hadn’t seen him around the gym.

The distraction worked and the would-be pout never came. “Nope, he's hanging out in London with Atobe-san apparently.”

“Atobe? ...Hanging out?” That was… odd. He hadn’t even known the two of them knew each other outside of tennis. “Have you been sleeping better?” He changed the subject again and watched closely for signs of lying.

“Yeah, apparently Atobe bought him sexy clothes or somethin, I dunno.” It was about time his fukubuchou got some sexy clothes, though he could never be half as sexy as him or his boyfriend, Akaya grinned. “I've been sleeping fine. Have you been eating?”

Bad mental images… bad… BAD. Hiyoshi’s eyebrows scrunched up as he winced. Really, he hadn’t needed to know that. “I’ve been eating better.” ‘Though I probably won’t be now’ he added to himself, his head landing in his palm. “Thank you, I think you just solved my problem for when I go see my family.”

Akaya gave him a thumbs up. “I figured that would help.”

Hiyoshi grimaced and massaged his temples trying to thwart off the oncoming headache. “Yes, now not another word on it if you want me to maintain my sanity.”

“You didn't have sanity to start with.” The curly haired demon smirked at his lover like a four year old who knows just what to say to get under your skin, which he did.

Hiyoshi smacked him lightly and glared. “Shut up, brat. Now I’m regretting meeting you in here at all.”

Akaya only smiled wider then proceeded to pounce on his lover, claiming his lips again possessively and wrapping his arms around his neck without any intention of letting go. He buried his hands in soft fine hair, not giving him any chance to escape this time. The great thing about teasing his mushroom-headed lover, whom he hadn’t had any time with lately and who loved him a lot, kissing solved everything.

Any angry thoughts that haunted Hiyoshi’s mind at that moment disappeared and only one thought remained. He hated it when Akaya did this, because it worked every time. He kissed his spoiled chibi demon back hungrily and dragged him even closer to him in front of the desk between his legs.

Akaya grinned at his victory and nipped at his boyfriend’s bottom lip gently, wondering how much he’d be able to get away with before the next class period started. His hands descended to move expertly over his boyfriend’s nice toned thigh muscles on their way to his even nicer toned ass. His lover had an amazing ass.

Hiyoshi groaned and wanted so much to let Akaya continue, but knew if he let him have an inch, he’d take a mile, and there certainly wasn’t enough time for the mile before the next class started. He took another moment to properly kiss him back and let Akaya have his fun before gently placing his hands over his to stop their progression and pulled back from the kiss. “Can you make time to meet me next weekend?”

Akaya wasn’t surprised when he was stopped, but that didn’t mean he was happy with it. Pouting, he asked, “Yeah, where do you wanna meet?”

“Richoen. I trust Fujisawa-san not to give us away. Then I've made hotel reservations for the night nearby.”

There were shiny stars in Akaya’s eyes. That was definitely good compensation for having to stop now. “Awesome.”

Hiyoshi chuckled and kissed his nose. “The next day we're going to look at apartments. …If you still want one with me.”

The smile spread from ear to ear as Akaya chimed. “Of course I do!”

“Good. I've been looking at finding a part time job for next semester, but I need to know how much you can put towards the apartment so we know what our price range is. It will be more expensive with Wilson coming with us.” He’d been doing a lot of research at home. Without having Akaya and his puppy there to pester him all the time, thinking of them finally all being together again was what kept him sane.

“A lot. Mom and Dad will totally help out too, so don't worry. I can pick up whatever you can't.” Akaya replied confidently. He’d been thinking about getting a job, too. Maybe he’d even ask Gakuto-chan about his job as a dancer!

There was the beginning of a feeling… a small nuisance in Hiyoshi’s gut. It was the first time for that role reversal… Those should have been his words. His smile dimmed slightly but he tried to push the thought away. “Okay, I think we should be fine then. Gakuto is going to show me how to build a resume.” Even though he didn't have much to put on it.

Akaya gave him a supporting smile. “Cool, Gakuto-chan is really good at that kinda stuff.”

Hiyoshi snorted and pulled Akaya’s back to him, wrapping his arms around his middle and nestling his chin on his shoulder comfortably. “What kind of apartment do you want?”

“Somewhere not too big. I don't want to have to clean a lot.” Akaya supplied with a shrug. He was lazy and he knew it, the less he had to clean the better.

“Since when did you ever clean to begin with?” Hiyoshi chuckled.

“...Good point, but just in case you have a change of heart and make me do it...”

Hiyoshi wondered amusedly how much persuasion it would take to make his boyfriend clean up after himself. “How would you feel about a more... traditional style apartment?” He knew Akaya wasn’t used to sliding doors, floor tables, and futons. When he’d first visited Akaya’s family’s house, he’d been surprised by how westernized it was.

“That works for me.”

“Really?” He asked surprised.

“Mmhm. I like traditional places. I used to hang out at fukubuchous place when I was a kid.”

Hiyoshi dropped a small kiss to the back of his neck with little smile. “I am more comfortable in that setting, myself.”

“Alright.” Akaya smiled as well feeling happy, content, and safe in Hiyoshi’s arms.

“There's nothing else you specifically want? Just not to clean?” He continued on, enjoying the moment, and the idea of having his own place free of his parent’s influence.

“Hmm… and somewhere we can have a big bed. Not one with two beds pushed together. I don’t like getting stuck between them in the middle of the night.”

“That wouldn't happen if you would just learn to stay still.” Hiyoshi teased as he poked his constantly moving boyfriend in the side.

Akaya wiggled and laughed. “It's not my fault! You're a bed hog!”

“Hmph. Even if I am, you never let me get in your way, so it hardly matters.” Akaya's body always managed to be draped over him in one or another by the end of the night.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Hiyoshi cuddling his brat to him, enjoying his closeness in the small gap of time they had while Akaya smiled, relaxing against him. One after the other, they both closed their eyes, pretending they were home in bed. After a while though, Hiyoshi looked up at the classroom clock and saw that it was almost time. His next class would be starting in the room in fifteen minutes and students would be arriving any minute.

Kissing the back of his love’s neck again, Hiyoshi whispered softly, “I have class here soon. You should go get some lunch before you run out of time.”

Akaya sighed. “Yeah... Maybe if I go quick I'll have time to steal Kaidoh’s bandana again... hmm…”

Hiyoshi poked him in the side again harder. “Brat. I actually enjoy his company in the mornings, so try not to traumatize him too badly.” He had no idea why his boyfriend and friend didn’t get along at all.

“Ah, he'll live. Besides, he's been kinda down lately. This gets his mind off of it.” he shrugged.

“Are you actually being nice to an enemy?” Feigning shock, Hiyoshi stood them both up and twirled Akaya around to face him. “Who are you and what have you done with my demon brat?”

“Yeah yeah, laugh it up mushroom king.” Akaya snorted and stuck his tongue out at him with a grin.

Hiyoshi glared and got that special glint in his eye that happened whenever someone compared him to his evil fungi nemesis. “I was going to kiss you goodbye before I kicked you out. Now perhaps I'll just throw you out the window.” He started to advance menacingly.

Akaya darted forward and stole a kiss anyway, feeling triumphant in his success. Haha! He’d out witted the ninja!

Hiyoshi blanched for a moment at the kiss but then laughed evilly which sounded more like a cackle. “Yes, you're definitely going out the window.” With little to no effort, he was well used to Akaya’s weight; he picked his demon boyfriend up and threw him over his shoulder.

Akaya only had time to blink once before flailing. “O-Oi!”

The insulted mushroom walked them over to the window and opened it, looking out. “It's not that bad. You'll just have to roll out of some bushes to get out the other side. Though you might not want to let a teacher catch you.” He grinned wickedly.

“Eh?!?!?!?!” Wakashi wouldn’t really throw him out a window, right? RIGHT?!

“What was that, Akaya?”

“Don't throw me out a window!!!” He kicked and flailed more trying to get out of the evil mushroom’s grasp.

Hiyoshi laughed and was about to put him down when he heard student’s voices becoming louder at the door. Not wanting to get caught, he tossed his boyfriend out the window then quickly closed it, turning around just as they walk in. He could hear cursing coming from outside the window and smirked. Akaya was so going to kill him for this later.


	58. Chapter 58

“You’re really sure this is what you want?” Hiyoshi Kazuya asked him for the umpteenth time. Hiyoshi was sitting with his older brother inside the small yakiniku restaurant “Richoen” where Akaya was supposed to be meeting him soon.

They had arrived an hour earlier, having gone straight there from visiting their parents for the day. Ever since Hiyoshi’s father forced him to break up with Akaya, they had been checking up on him constantly, almost daily. Visiting home every weekend was hard and very awkward for everyone, but it helped keep up the illusion that he and Akaya had remained separated.

“Yes.” Hiyoshi glowered, annoyed at having the same question asked so many times. He’d evaluated it time and time again. Hell, he’d given the other option a shot and had found out rather painfully that it really wasn’t an option. Despite his objections, at least Kazuya was trying to be supportive. Hiyoshi’s plan for that evening with Akaya would not be possible without his help.

“Fine. I’ve said all I can and you obviously aren’t willing to listen to reason.” Kazuya sighed then chucked an edamame peel at his younger brother.

Hiyoshi caught it with a smirk. “Not when reason dictates I’m to be unhappy for the rest of my life.”

With one last shake of his head and chuckle, Kazuya stood from his chair and patted Hiyoshi’s shoulder. “Good for you.” He still wasn’t convinced Wakashi was making the right choice, but it wasn’t his place to say so anymore. “Enjoy your night and let me know if anything else comes up… and don’t mind Mom. She’ll come around eventually.” So saying, he turned and made his way out the door, spying Kirihara-san on his way out.

It hadn’t taken Akaya too long to get to the yakiniku restaurant, though he could smell it long before he could see it and it left his stomach rumbling. He was still rather irritated with Hiyoshi for throwing him out the window, but his curiosity and hunger were winning out against his little grudge.

Walking up to the restaurant, Akaya raised an eyebrow at the guy who seemed to be looking at him. He looked familiar, but at the same time not, so he opened the door, fully intending on ignoring the odd man.

“So nice to see you again, Kirihara-kun,” Kazuya said in a business like fashion. “I do hope you and Wakashi enjoy your evening together.” What Wakashi saw in this strange boy whom, last he’d seen him, threw a remote at his head, was beyond him. Why he would be willing to give up his self-chosen future for him was even more baffling.

Akaya paused and let the door close again before turning to the other man. He raised an eyebrow at him and frowned. "Who the hell are you?" he asked suspiciously.

Taken back by this apparent complete lack in recognition, Kazuya chortled. “You wound me Kirihara-kun, and everyone always said Wakashi and I could pass for twins, minus the age gap of course.” He mock bowed. “I am Hiyoshi Kazuya, Wakashi’s older brother. We met once briefly before. But don’t let me keep you. I believe the person you are looking for is waiting for you.”

Akaya blink and stopped looking so cranky as everything flashed back to him. "Oh yeah, you're the dude I threw a remote at..." Akaya mumbled mostly to himself and nodded a little. "Good to see you again." At the mention of Hiyoshi though, he glanced back at the door.

It was good to note that Wakashi’s boyfriend wasn’t a complete imbecile who suffered from memory loss. Kazuya’s eyes closed in the classic fake Japanese smile. “Likewise.” Noticing where Kirihara’s attention was drawn, he took his chances and attempted one last intervention. “I hope you can understand what he’s giving up for you,” he said quietly with a hint of bitterness but then covered it quickly with another smile, “but no matter. Please take care of my brother.” He bowed politely again then casually made his way down the street.

Akaya had never wished he had a remote in his hand more than he did right then. He glared at Kazuya's back then opened the door, plastering on a giant grin even though it was a little forced. He walked over and sat across from Hiyoshi like he owned the place and smiled at his boyfriend. "Hey."

Hiyoshi had glanced up right as his boyfriend walked through the door and his eyes followed him, his features relaxing into a small reciprocating smile when he sat down. “Hi.”

"Have you been waiting long?" Akaya asked nonchalantly, like he hadn't just run into Hiyoshi's brother and like he didn't want to tackle his boyfriend and make him pay for dropping him out of a window.

“My brother was here for a while with me, but left just a few minutes before you got here.” He signaled for a waiter to come over and take their orders. “He helped get us the room tonight so my parents don’t find out about it.”

Okay, maybe he shouldn't throw something at Hiyoshi's brother next time he saw him. Maybe just kick him in the shin... “Really? That's cool." He chimed and relaxed back to stretch some, his tennis bag settled comfortably at his side.

“Yeah, at least one of the members of my family isn’t hell bent on hating me.” Hiyoshi frowned, thinking about the way his mother looked at him, as if she was accusing him of some great sin. His thoughts were interrupted by Fujisawa-san coming to their table with her usual kind and gentle smile to take their orders. He looked to Akaya with a silent request to order for both of them.

Akaya watched Hiyoshi for a long moment then looked to Fujisawa-san to order three large plates of meat for them. He smiled at her and also ordered a soda for himself, wanting something different from the usual and Hiyoshi’s usual tea.

Trying to shake off the thoughts of his family, Hiyoshi mentioned, “I see you brought your tennis bag. Did you end up bringing your tennis equipment or did you actually manage to pack properly for tomorrow?” He was usually the one to do the packing since Akaya's was terrible at it. He was curious to see what he ended up thinking he needed to bring.

"Both!" Akaya proclaimed proudly and patted his bag. "I just left practice, so I've got my tennis stuff and I packed for the day last night," he grinned. He knew Hiyoshi was better at packing than him but all he needed was an extra set of clothes, right? That wasn't so hard.

Hiyoshi chuckled and thanked Fujisawa-san who brought them their drinks and turned on their burners. “I hope you thought to bring something nice to wear. They won’t give us an apartment if you go in there looking and smelling like you just got out of practice.” He was actually a little concerned no one would rent to them since they were both first time renters without any current steady income. “Were you able to talk to your parents about helping us with the initial lease?” It was embarrassing to ask but he was trying to be realistic.

"Yeah, they said it's fine. Don't worry," Akaya smiled and sipped at his drink. "And I brought nice clothes. I'm going to look awesome," he assured and waited for the grill to heat up impatiently.

Apparently everything was taken care of and he wasn’t needed at all. Hiyoshi scowled and took a drink of his warm tea which was nice and soothing going down. “I made appointments for us to look at three different places tomorrow. If we don’t like them we can look around more.” He tried not to let his irritation show since Akaya had become better recently at deciphering his bad moods and hoped the meat would serve as a distraction.

"Cool, sounds good to me," Akaya chimed and started cooking the meat when it was brought out. "You've done a lot of research on this," he commented and glanced at his boyfriend. He could see the other was upset for some reason, but he'd learned better than to start an argument about stuff like that in a public place with Hiyoshi.

“Of course I have.” He placed a few pieces of meat for himself on the burner and waited for it to cook. For no real reason, he could feel his bad mood worsening. Usually in this situation, he would first let Akaya enjoy his food, then after going home he’d drop a hint that he wanted to be left alone for the rest of the night. However, he had gone to a lot of trouble to get them the hotel and ignoring his boyfriend for the evening was not an option. Seeing no light at the end of the tunnel, he continued silently brooding to himself.

Some things the curly haired demon couldn't ignore. "Why are you grouchy?" He asked and popped a piece of meat into his mouth, sharp green eyes fixing on Hiyoshi curiously.

The grouchy mushroom hated being asked that. If he wanted to volunteer the information then he already would have. Glaring at his boyfriend, he moved more meat to his plate. “I’m not grouchy.”

"Yeah you are..." Akaya said simply and munched on another piece before eating a mouthful of rice as well. "It's really obvious."

Hiyoshi’s eyebrow twitched. “Since you apparently know me so well that it’s that obvious, I suppose I don’t need to even to tell you.”

"Ok, you're right..." Akaya shrugged and fixed a little glare on Hiyoshi. "You're not grouchy. You're pissy," He grumbled and ate more.

What the hell gave Akaya the right to talk to him like that? Hiyoshi had been through hell the last couple weeks having to deal with his family all the time. Akaya seemed to care less that they hadn’t seen each other hardly at all lately and now he was being ridiculed for not being perfectly smiley and happy?

Anyone passing by might have seen the angry stream coming off Hiyoshi in waves. Taking several rough bites of meat and swallowing hard, he almost got up and left right then and there, but instead just fixed Akaya with a “not another word” look.

Akaya obediently stayed quiet through the rest of their meal, but when they were done, he looked over at his boyfriend again stubbornly. "When we get to the hotel, you're telling me what's wrong," he said decidedly and his tone left no room for argument. It wasn't often he tried that tone with Hiyoshi, but damn it, he wasn't going to start off their apartment hunt with the other in a cranky mood.

Hiyoshi had been thankful for Akaya’s silence during the majority of the meal, and then the idiot had to open his big mouth again. Still, he knew that tone. It meant if he tried to argue it would result in red eyes and alarmed customers. Not that he particularly cared, but he didn’t want to put Fujisawa-san in a difficult position.

Standing, Hiyoshi quickly paid for the both of them then walked out of the restaurant towards the hotel without looking back to see if Akaya was following him or not. The brat could do whatever the hell he wanted.

Akaya sighed and got up, following his boyfriend with an annoyed look. He stayed close behind him but didn't walk beside him. If the damn mushroom wanted to be a grouchy ass he could be a grouchy ass ahead of him.

The hotel wasn’t very far but they walked the whole way there without a word spoken. That may have been for the best since it gave Hiyoshi time to cool his head and think rationally again, but being the stubborn Hyotei boy he was, he had no intention of being the first to speak. He checked them in at the front desk then walked calmly with his head held high to the elevator. Their hotel room was on the third flour and he managed to make it all the way there without glancing back at him even once so not to let himself become even more aggravated.

Walking into the room behind Hiyoshi, Akaya slipped off his shoes with a little sigh before going over to put his bag down. The walk had helped him cool off as well so he wasn't quite as snappy by the time they arrived. "So what's wrong?" He asked and sat on the edge of the big comfy bed.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Hiyoshi tried not to snap while carelessly throwing his bag and jacket on the floor and loosening his collared shirt, unbuttoning the first few buttons. Akaya didn’t need to hear about his problems, he already knew them. He didn’t want to be accused of sounding like a bitching female.

"Alright..." Akaya stared at the discarded bag and jacket with wide eyes, confused as all hell. Who was this messy person and what had he done with his obsessive compulsive boyfriend? Slowly, so as not to make any sudden movements and startle the alien mushroom, he got up and picked up the jacket, hanging it neatly in the closet and set the bag on the little luggage holder the room offered.

Hiyoshi raised an eyebrow at Akaya’s actions then just shrugged and took his place on the bed, laying down on his back with his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. He was never in a good mood after spending the day at his parent’s house. Akaya would have been better off spending his Saturday night with his friends.

Cautiously, a little afraid an alien would burst out of Hiyoshi’s stomach; Akaya walked over and sat beside his boyfriend. He didn't want to catch whatever virus was causing his boyfriend to be messy and 'blah' but he didn't know what else to do. Besides, it had been far too long since he'd seen his lover (and the last time he had, he'd gotten thrown out a window) so he leaned down and kissed him gently.

Stiff muscles unclenched as those familiar lips touched his and Hiyoshi slid a hand through his boyfriend’s hair, kissing him back. It was amusing the way his bratty demon was kissing him so timid and cautiously. He ran his tongue over a soft pouty lip before swiftly grabbing onto him, pulling and twisting them around till Akaya was lying under him.

Akaya let out a little undignified yelp at the motion, but it didn't take him long to smile and wrap his arms around Hiyoshi's neck.

Settling down on top of him, Hiyoshi burrowed his head against Akaya’s collar bone. “I want this evening to go one of two ways.” He held up a hand in front of Akaya’s face displaying one finger. “Option one, you fuck me right now until I pass out,” a second finger was added, “or option two, you order us ice cream and I get a massage.”

Akaya blinked at the fingers and frowned at the choices. "We can't do both?" He pouted and thought about the options carefully. Both options were so tempting. Option one for obvious reasons and option two for ice cream. He did love ice cream.

“Because, either way I plan on passing out by the end.” Hiyoshi had hardly slept all week, which was odd for him since usually sleep was something he never lacked. There was too much on his mind. Akaya was good at getting him to stop thinking, maybe that’s why he loved the damn brat.

He could tell his lover needed rest so Akaya just nodded a little and pet Hiyoshi’s hair. "Alright... Then I'll get us some ice cream and get some lotion so I can give you a good massage, alright?"

A smile touched those grouchy lips and Hiyoshi groaned happily at the thought. “Mm… Have I told you recently how much I love you?”

"No." Akaya said flatly. "Last time you just threw me out a window." Bitter? No, never.

Hiyoshi sweat-dropped. “Uhh… I love you?” He had forgotten about that.

Akaya snorted and rolled his eyes. "Sure you do," he teased.

“When I feel like it,” the tired boy smirked then gave Akaya a look clearly stating the faster he went to get the ice cream, the faster he would “feel like it”.

Akaya stuck his tongue out at him and wiggled his way out from under his boyfriend with minimal effort so he could order the ice cream. He got some of every type they had since he was going to be a bit bored after his boyfriend passed out.

Hiyoshi chuckled at all the ice cream his boyfriend was ordering and stood from the bed. Going to him, he wrapped his arms around his waist from behind. “Sorry,” he voiced guiltily once Akaya was off the phone. “I’m sure there are games and movies on the TV you can order too if you want.”

Glancing back at him over his shoulder, Akaya smiled a little. "It's fine," he said honestly and turned in Hiyoshi's arms to kiss him happily. "Now, lemme get the lotion out of the bathroom so I can give you that massage."

Hiyoshi nodded and went back over to the bed, taking off his shirt and pants on the way and placing them neatly with the rest of his stuff. He really did feel guilty about being this exhausted and irritable, especially since there was no good reason for it. It was just his own damn weakness against his emotions. At this point the person he had to Gekokujyo was himself.

It didn't take long to fetch the lotion. When Akaya returned, he saw Hiyoshi's clothes folded neatly and relaxed. It was his Hiyoshi after all.

\---

As expected, some time in the middle of the massage, Hiyoshi had completely blacked out. It was ironic how he could be alone and undisturbed for the entire night and have the worst sleep, yet now he was waking up the next morning to his demon boyfriend sprawled all over him with limbs spread out in every direction, some actually hanging off the edge of the bed. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so well.

Smiling softly, he moved an arm out from under Akaya where it had lost all feeling and pulled the demon boy more properly onto the bed and back against his chest.

Akaya wasn't terribly fond of being moved when sleeping, but he didn't complain. Instead, he just groaned and wrapped himself tightly around Hiyoshi. It had been a long time since he'd slept so soundly without sleeping pills and he was enjoying every moment of it with no intention of waking up any time soon.

Yawning, Hiyoshi looked over at the clock and sighed. It was already nearing noon and they had an appointment to get to. “Akaya…” He kissed his forehead and rubbed his back, gently trying to coax him awake.

Akaya groaned and opened his eyes slowly, the outsides of them rimmed with red from the tennis dream he'd been having. "Nnn... what?" he mumbled and sat up to look around, confused for a moment as to where the hell he was. He looked at Hiyoshi and blinked a couple more times. "A dream?"

Hiyoshi smirked when he saw red-rimmed eyes, knowing very well what he must have been dreaming about. He reached up and slowly drew him back down to his chest. “Who were you destroying?”

"Sanada-fukubuchou... and buchou... They were playing doubles against me..." Akaya mumbled and nuzzled up to his boyfriend with a quiet yawn. "What time is it...?" He bit back another bigger yawn.

“Almost noon. We have to get up and start getting ready soon so we can check out and make it to our appointment on time.” There was no real urgency in his voice as he continued to softly stroke the warm muscled skin of Akaya’s back. Despite his words, he wasn’t quite ready to move yet.

"Oh..." The tired response was murmured and Akaya snuggled up more to kiss along Hiyoshi's jaw. "How did you sleep?" He asked, trying to prolong the inevitable.

“Mm… very well, thank you.” Hiyoshi closed his eyes and his hand rose to gently massage the base of Akaya’s neck, completely relaxed. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since I was with Choutarou.”

Akaya froze in his boyfriend's arms and his eyes shot open, he was definitely awake now. “Since WHAT?!"

Quite comfortable and trying not to fall back asleep, Hiyoshi didn’t notice Akaya’s distress right away, only cuddled him closer and rubbed his nose into black curls. “Hm..? Since I slept with Choutarou.”

Akaya wriggled away from Hiyoshi and stared at him like he was insane. "You… you slept… with someone?!" How could Hiyoshi be so calm about this?! They'd been kinda broken up… but still! He slept with someone?! His prude?!

Taken back, Hiyoshi sat up and gave him a weird look. “I don’t see how that would be a problem. We weren’t together at the time. You weren’t there and I was having a hard time sleeping. Choutarou was just trying to comfort me…” Honestly, Akaya had slept with his friends and senpai plenty of times. What was wrong if he did?

"You… that's not… SEX IS NOT A SLEEPING PILL!" The demon snapped and crawled out of bed to look for clothes to change into. His eyes were starting to sting. This was not a conversation he wanted to have right now. They were going to look for apartments so they could finally be together again and they were going to like it, damn it.

Hiyoshi baulked. “What?! Who said anything about sex?! I didn’t have sex with him! We just slept together! IDIOT.” How could Akaya think that? Technically, even if he had, Akaya and he hadn’t been together at the time, but still… “You honestly think I would do that?!”

"No! Why do you think I'm so damned surprised that you-" Akaya’s whole body that had started to shake paused and let the other words sink in. As they did, he relaxed back against the wall for support. "You didn't..." He let out a sigh of relief and slid down the wall until he was sitting. "Don't phrase things like that, idiot..." he mumbled and rested his forehead on his knees. “Anyone would think you two had..."

Hiyoshi shook his head and walked over to crouch in front of Akaya with a worried expression. “You’re not just anyone, idiot. I would have thought you had more faith in me than that.” He held out a hand to help him up. “Come on. Let’s go find a place to live.” Away from other people, thank god.

"Yeah..." Akaya said and sighed, smiling a little before taking Hiyoshi's hand to help pull himself up. "We gotta find a good place that Wilson's gonna like. Oh! Oh! And a place that we can get cool pets like snakes and stuff, too."

“Snakes. You want a snake.” Hiyoshi deadpanned.

"A snake would be so cool!" Akaya grinned and looked just like a child who wanted to take home something from the zoo to keep in his room, which in a way he nearly was.

“Ugh…” Hiyoshi promptly face palmed. “You have ten minutes to be ready and out the door.” Maybe living with Akaya wasn’t going to the smartest decision he ever made, but seeing his boyfriend grinning at him like that almost made it worth it, right? He was sooooo going to regret this.

"Heh heh," Well Hiyoshi hadn't said no... Maybe they could stop by the pet shop on the way back. He nodded to his boyfriend and went into the bathroom to use the facilities and get changed. Five minutes later he reemerged, ready to take on the world. "Maybe we can name it Mamuko?"

\---

As the front door was opened to the first apartment they were looking at, the first thought that came to mind was that it was small, but Hiyoshi quickly shoved down that thought. Realistically, even this was a little out of the price range he’d set for them. He was going to have to get used to this.

Akaya walked in and looked around the place curiously, not used to apartment life. But compared to his house, which was full of thousands of useless things and piles of things that no one even recognized anymore, the place they were standing in was huge. "This is awesome!" He slipped off his shoes to go in and check the place out. "Whadda ya think, Wakashi?" he asked curiously as he went out onto the balcony.

“It’s alright,” the more reserved of the two of them acquiesced, not wanting to say what he really thought in front of the small polite lady showing it to them. The kitchen by the door was so small it could hardly be considered a kitchen, more like a small side table with a stove and a hole in it for a sink. He doubted the closet would actually hold both their sets of clothes. The second room, which counted as the bedroom, at least seemed nice enough. The light hit the room at a good angle.

Akaya went over to check out the closet and looked at it with a frown. "Naa, Wakashi... My happy shelf won’t fit in here..." He pouted and looked in the shower. There was no way for them both to fit in there, let alone have sex in there.

There wasn’t going to be room for a lot of things. Hiyoshi came up behind Akaya to whisper quietly. “I don’t think we can afford anything larger.”

"That's alright," Akaya said and turned to smile at him. "Really, it's bigger than our dorm room and we'll be able to have a real bed."

“True,” Hiyoshi agreed, “but we still have a few more places to look at, so we don’t have to decide right away.”

"Alright," Akaya glanced at the door where the lady was standing and stole a kiss. "Then should we keep looking?"

Hiyoshi nodded, turning a little red. He was annoyed to admit it but he didn’t know how well he would do living in such a small confined space, especially with a bratty demon and an energetic fuzz ball. Heh, actually, both those descriptions were interchangeable for the two.

They quickly thanked the land lady and made their way to a second apartment. It was almost the exact same layout as the first but with a higher price.

The third was a bit farther away from campus but was also a little more in their price range. Hiyoshi just hoped the price didn’t indicate that it would be even smaller.

Akaya trotted along as they walked, looking at the surrounding areas curiously. "It's a ways from campus, but it's not so bad," he commented, though looked perplexed by the apartment building as they walked up to it. It looked really old and some of the faded orangy paint was chipping off the outside walls. At least there was a convenience store across the street. "Woah... looks kinda old," he said and looked around. "Where's the elevator...?"

“Apparently there isn’t one.” It did look aged and Hiyoshi was a little concerned about the beat up looking roof, but he wasn’t in the position to be choosy. “Might as well still look.” He took out his phone to call the apartment office to let them know they were there. A moment later, the landlady came out to show them the room.

The lady was hard to miss with her very bright green suit with its many accessories and even brighter smile. She quickly and politely introduced herself as “Asai Yuko” with a cheery smile then led them up the stairs to the third floor to show them the room.

Akaya pouted as they were dragged up the flights of stairs that led to the apartment. It wasn't that he was out of breath or tired at all from the climb, but he knew it would suck after a long day of practice. He waited for her to open the door then bounded inside curiously, slipping off his shoes expertly before looking around. "This one's a lot bigger!"

Indeed, the apartment was bigger. The whole front room was very spacious and even the small kitchenette had a little extra space. All in all, it wasn’t so bad. Hiyoshi went farther in to look at the empty bedroom and balcony.

Akaya went into the bathroom and beamed. "Wakashi! It's big enough for both of us!" He chimed happily and walked out to look at the balcony curiously. "Oooo this is, too," he smirked mischievously and looked out at the view. It wasn't great, but it definitely wasn't bad.

Hiyoshi winced. Akaya had said that a little too loudly for his liking, but when he looked back at the landlady standing near the door she was still smiling brightly, almost like a mannequin. …Creepy. “It’s a little far from campus…”

"Yeah, but it's not that bad. We're both in shape." Akaya bumped his side against Hiyoshi's. "What do you think, Wakashi?"

The walls had holes in them and some of the paint was chipped, but it looked clean and the view from the balcony of the street down below wasn’t bad. When he looked over at Akaya he thought he could imagine making it into a home. “Do you think Wilson would like it?”

"Yeah, there's more space for him here than the other places and our dorm," Akaya explained, excited that Hiyoshi seemed to like it too, and turned to lean back on the railing to look inside the room. "I think it will be good. We'll have our own place, finally..."

“Yeah,” Hiyoshi grinned, “it’s boring without you.”

Akaya laughed and nodded. "I know," he smirked and pushed away from the railing. "Should we take it?"

“We still have two other places to look at, but this is the least expensive and the others are farther away. Do you want to take it?”

"I like it. I think we should," he said quietly and leaned against his side. "It feels right..."

A tiny spark of excitement welled up in Hiyoshi’s chest. It was both exciting and terrifying. He was going to do this. They were going to do this… and maybe they could even be happy. A small beaming smile lit up his face and he leaned back against him, sharing a little of his weight. “Alright. Let’s take it.”

Akaya grinned at the rare, but wonderful sight of his boyfriend smiling then bound over to the apartment manager. "We'll take it~!"


	59. Chapter 59

It had been a little over a week since Hiyoshi and Akaya signed the paper work for their new apartment, but the move wasn’t going to happen until the end of the month. The closer the date came, the sooner Hiyoshi would have to confront his family, and there was a lot to be done and prepare before then. It didn’t help that at the end of the day Hiyoshi still went home to an empty room, except for Wilson some of the time. What he looked forward to more than anything at the end of all this was to be able to come home to his annoying brat again. Whether he liked it or not, Akaya was both the reason for most of his tension and stress yet also the only person who could make it all go away.

The training session he was currently partaking in with his fraternity brothers also helped take some of the pressure off, but practice would soon come to an end and he would once again be going home to an empty room. At least Wilson would be waiting for him.

They always had informal matches at the end of sessions, and he was currently facing another well trained martial artist who was a black belt in Aikido. They faced each other squarely, slowly moving in a half circle, waiting for the cue when the other would attack. Then it was a mess of limbs as they dueled for dominance on the mats.

Two and a half hours after tennis practice, Akaya finally finished his laps. His legs felt like fish jello and he was ready to pass out, but slipping that love letter into Yukimura's locker and seeing the look on his face had been totally worth it. It was just a shame he couldn't manage to get Yukimura to believe it had been Niou (he really needed to learn his kanji better...).

He trudged through the campus toward where he knew Hiyoshi would be finishing up with his martial arts, fighting back yawns. He wanted to take a nap, but he also really wanted to see his boyfriend. Someone he hardly ever saw anymore. He couldn't even remember the last time he saw him. He slid open the door rather unceremoniously only to see a large man-like-monster looking at him with a confused expression. "Akaya?" A familiar voice asked and the monsters hand reached up to pull the kendo head gear off.

"S--Sanada-fukubuchou?" Akaya asked in surprise. This was definitely not the right room. "Uh... Wakashi... isn't here, is he?" he asked as his vice captain walked over to him, running a hand through his damp hair.

"No, he's in 56B." Sanada explained, but when he saw the blank look on his kohai's face, he instructed the rest of the kendo club to go back to their exercises. His job was never done. "I'll take you there. Come on." He sighed and put a hand on Akaya's back to lead him to the room he knew Hiyoshi would be in. "I see you finished your laps..."

"Yeah, but my legs are sore."

"Well that's what you get for not knowing your kanji." Sanada explained and rolled his eyes. Really, he'd failed as a senpai with Akaya somewhere along the way. At least he could get his name right. "Here we are." He said, sounding relieved, and slid open the door to 56B silently. "Behave yourself," he murmured and pushed his directionally challenged kohai inside. Finally, he could go back to practice.

Akaya grinned when he saw Hiyoshi and leaned back against a wall to watch until his ninja was finished beating the crap out of people.

Hiyoshi held his sparring partner down on the mat, one leg trapped between his, but his opponent had a good hold on his arm which he would have to move his legs in order to break. He broke it quickly and rolled up and away until they were clear again. The other charged for him and he ducked, catching the other mid spin and dropped him down to the mat again, holding him in a foot lock.

“Call!” His opponent shouted from his position. Hiyoshi immediately let go and held out a hand to help him up. They both stood and bowed to each other respectfully before leaving the mat.

Dripping with sweat, Hiyoshi went to get his towel and water bottle on the side lines. Catching sight of Akaya on his way over, he raised an eyebrow at him then looked cautiously back at his fraternity brothers. “What are you doing here?”

"Came by to say hi," Akaya answered and looked over at the other members, raising his hand in a little greeting to them. "I got out of practice late, so..."

The other members of the fraternity either uncomfortably waved back or nodded then went about their own business. Hiyoshi sighed. “If you can wait a while, I’ll walk back with you to the dorm. We’re about done here, but it’s my turn to lock up.” He knew his fraternity brothers had an idea of what their relationship was and respectfully kept their mouths shut, but it was awkward when Akaya was standing right there.

Kirihara noticed the awkwardness and his eye twitched, his smile taking on a creepiness he'd learned from Yukimura. He was going to kill them if they gave Hiyoshi crap for his sexual preference. "Okay, I'll wait."

Hiyoshi smiled gratefully at his boyfriend. “Thanks,” and walked past him to get to his water bottle and towel. Taking a few big gulps of water and wiping the sweat off his brow, he brushed past him on his way back onto the mats again. “I’ll message you when they’re gone.”

"No need, I'll just hang out here," Akaya chimed and sat down, leaning back against the wall with a determined grin.

Hiyoshi’s smile turned into a frown. Damn it, his boyfriend always found the worst ways to be a nuisance, and chose the worst times to be stubborn about it. There was nothing he could do about it though without making a scene.

The rest of practice seemed to go at a snails pace with everyone seeming to constantly be looking between Akaya and himself with a question in their eyes while all the same time pretending it wasn’t happening. It was irritating and he was going to throw his boyfriend out another window once this was done… after he pinned him to a wall and kissed him for a little while to take away some of his tension first.

Akaya sat back contently and watched the practice, oblivious to the tension building in the room. He wasn't doing anything wrong or inappropriate, so why was everyone looking at him strangely?

At the end of practice, after Hiyoshi had the chance to pummel a few more opponents, one of the senpai members that Hiyoshi often spoke and sparred with during practice approached him looking uneasy. “Hiyoshi… Who is your guest?”

Hiyoshi thought the question to be rather absurd since by now almost everyone in the fraternity had probably seen him and Akaya together and even knew they had lived together. “A friend of mine. Why? Is there a problem?”

His senpai gestured nervously toward Akaya. “Perhaps you shouldn’t invite him to practice. Some of the brothers are talking… and it’s not a good idea to…”

“Talking?” Hiyoshi interrupted, not liking what he was hearing and not wanting to hear any more. “My business is no one else’s. If someone has a problem with me or my friend, they can bring it to me.”

His senpai looked like he wanted to argue further but then seemed to change his mind and nodded. Instead he only responded, “Just be careful, Hiyoshi. Have a good evening.”

Those words stayed with him still as the last of his fraternity brothers left the room, leaving him and Akaya alone in it. He wondered how much of that anyone else heard, or worse yet… Akaya.

Akaya had always had a good sense of hearing, even if he pretended he didn't and he hadn't missed what the guy said to Hiyoshi.

As the last man walked out, leaving the two alone, Akaya glared over at the wall, trying to keep his temper under control. How could they say things like that about one of their "brothers"? It wasn't right. He knew that would never happen in the tennis club. People on the team were friends, comrades, even if they hated each other. It wasn't alright. It just... wasn't.

Hiyoshi exhaled long and slow, his shoulders slumping slightly before turning to look back at Akaya. He pasted on a small grin, which was not hard to do since despite the circumstances he was still happy to see his boyfriend. “Hey, hand me my towel,” he requested, walking towards him, deciding then that he would forget that discussion ever took place.

At Hiyoshi's voice, Akaya looked up at him and forced a small smile. "Yeah... you need it," Akaya teased and threw the towel at Hiyoshi’s face. "You're all sweaty and smell like other men." Wrinkling his nose to show his distaste for that, he stood back up. He wanted to go and kick those guys' asses, but he knew he didn't stand a chance, not if he took them on in a fair fight at least... So for now, he let it go. It wasn't something worth fighting with Hiyoshi over. Not when he hadn't seen him in so long.

Smirking, Hiyoshi toweled off his hair and brushed the sweat off his skin, then threw it back at Akaya’s face. While his boyfriend was spitting, he grabbed him in his sweaty arms and pinned him against the wall as he’d imagined doing earlier. “Am I so disgusting that I don’t even get a kiss?”

Before he even got a chance to react, Akaya had a sweaty towel on his face. He yelped as his back hit the wall, but when the towel fell off his face, he gave his boyfriend a little fake glare. "Hm… Well you do smell like other men, but..." his glare turned into a smirk, "that just means I gotta put my smell all over ya instead."

“And how do you intend to do that?” the martial artist teased, leaning forward, dragging his nose and lips lightly up Akaya’s neck before happily nuzzling it, taking in his scent and wishing Akaya would do just that.

Akaya grinned and wrapped one limber leg around Hiyoshi’s hips, pulling him right up nice and close to rub his hips against him. "Mm... I'm sure I'll figure out something..."

Hiyoshi gasped, feeling his need for Akaya grow and pressed his body closer to his boyfriend’s. “Not here you won’t. I remember what happened last time you managed to corner me here.” Oh yes, he remembered it very well.

"Mm... You enjoyed it last time though..." Akaya purred and leaned in to nibble at Hiyoshi's ear teasingly, enjoying every moment and the memories that came flooding back to him in that place.

Hiyoshi groaned. Gods he had missed his boyfriend’s touch. “Che. So confident.” He pulled back and touched their foreheads together. Why had Akaya even come? He had to know it was a bad idea. As much as he called him an idiot, his brat knew better. “You missed me that much?”

"I wanted to see you... watch you kick some ass,” Akaya chuckled breathlessly and closed his eyes. "It's been so long..." No matter what he did, he couldn't make himself stop thinking about his boyfriend. And even though he knew he shouldn't come, he couldn't resist a chance to see him.

When Akaya’s eyes closed, Hiyoshi couldn’t help himself. Like a magnetic force, his lips gravitated to Akaya’s until they softly brushed. Just the mere touch of lips meeting made him shiver. “I missed you, too...”

Akaya groaned at the light kiss and smiled a little. "Mm... good... If you hadn't, I'd have to kick your ninja ass," Akaya purred and opened his eyes to meet Hiyoshi's.

Those green eyes were getting to him, any moment now it wasn’t going to matter where they were. “Che. Even If you could, then you’d have to keep relying on your happy shelf.” Hiyoshi pressed his leg up against Akaya’s groin and grinded slowly against him, grinning wickedly.

Moaning quietly, Akaya ground back against that leg slowly. "Mm… That would be a shame..." he whimpered a little and kissed him again, "but that reminds me... Some of that stuff is getting old and worn out... You should come shopping with me for new things..."

Hiyoshi was too worried about someone walking in and catching them to go all the way. The situation was already stressed to the breaking point. Hmm… but he could probably get away with… “New things? …Why would I want to do that?” He chuckled and a hand slipped down between them to deftly loosen and undo Akaya’s pants.

Akaya let out a breathless purr and rolled his hips into the touch. "Mm... because, we could get things we can use together..." Oh, there were so many things he wanted to do to Hiyoshi and that he wanted done to him. He doubted there was enough time left in his life to do all of them, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying

“I suppose that doesn’t sound so bad…” Hiyoshi leaned forward to capture his brat’s mouth in another brief kiss then held his gaze with a smile as he lowered himself to his knees. After releasing Akaya’s arousal from the confines of his pants, he leaned forward, ghosting his breath over it. “But for now, would you like this?”

Akaya shivered and leaned back more against the wall, burying his hand in Hiyoshi's hair and grinning. "Mm... I would like that very much..."

Hiyoshi unconsciously ran his tongue over his lips at the sight of Akaya’s arousal so close. Complying with his lover's request, he opened his mouth and took the tip between his lips, sucking gently. If this was all he was going to get for a while, he was going to enjoy it.

With a shuddering breath, Akaya bucked his hips forward and gasped, "Gh----ngh----Wakashi..." His voice came out as a deep purr and already he was far too gone for coherent thought. Damn, it really had been waaaaaaay too long.

The mushroom-headed boy gripped the base as he slowly took his more experienced partner as far into his mouth as he could. After he got accustomed to the feeling, he started to move his mouth over him, alternating between taking Akaya deep into his throat, sucking hard and just running his tongue lightly over the his entire length.

Akaya watched him carefully, eyes half-lidded and lust filled. "I--ve--- missed you..." Akaya moaned and leaned his weight back against the wall, trying not to come already, but having a hard time distracting himself from the overwhelming pleasure that he'd missed so much.

Damn… Hiyoshi had never enjoyed doing this so much before, and the sounds of appreciation coming from those beloved lips made his own need tighten almost unbearably. “Nnn…” he moaned around him in response to the wonderful sounds his lover was making and softly massaged his soft package, feeling his balls roll nicely between his fingers.

"Wakashi... I can't... ah---" It was only a matter of moments before he spilled himself in Hiyoshi's mouth, unable to hold it in anymore. He'd been making good use of his happy shelf during their little dry spell, but that still wasn't enough to keep his endurance up when it came to that hot mouth on him. He'd have to get used to it all over again.

Hiyoshi choked as Akaya’s hot seed flowed into his mouth. He pulled away half choking and half laughing, having not expected that at all. In the past he’d always moved away to finish him off with his hand before his boyfriend came. He hadn’t anticipated his first time staying to be quite like that. However, he was not unfamiliar with Akaya’s taste in the least. He only chuckled and, once he stopped sputtering, helped support his boyfriend up against the wall and kissed him lovingly with a still laughing smile. “It really has been a while hasn’t it?”

Akaya flushed and nodded a little, embarrassed that he hadn't been able to hold on as long as he normally could, let alone warn Hiyoshi before he came. "Sorry..." he mumbled and kissed the other gently, enjoying the way he could taste himself mixed in with Hiyoshi.

Hiyoshi just held him closer, his own needs hadn’t been met yet but right now he was perfectly content pinning his love against the wall and letting his lips thoroughly explore and make up for all the lost time. He moaned at the friction his body created against Akaya’s and knew at any moment he might throw him to the ground and fuck him senseless, despite the fact he had earlier been against the idea… Suddenly he felt another unwelcome presence in the room.

Akaya was oblivious and lost in his happy pleasure filled delirium, until Hiyoshi tensed up. That was never a good sign. Slowly he turned his head toward the door to see what it was that had his lover on edge.

Taking a deep breath, Hiyoshi squeezed Akaya’s side before turning to face whoever was there boldly, trying to cover Akaya’s disheveled look and undone pants as best he could, though it probably would make no difference since he himself had a fairly obvious tent between his legs and proof of earlier activities were still evident and on him. What had he done in a past life to get this kind of karma?

It was some consolation that the freshman fraternity member whose name he forgot at the moment looked suitably uncomfortable with that deer caught in the headlights look. Hiyoshi held his chin high and asked in an unwavering voice that belied his inner unease, “Did you forget something?”

That may have been the stupidest things he could have said, but either way, the white faced younger man didn’t even bother to answer and instead rushed out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him.

Akaya let out a deep sigh when the door closed and looked to Hiyoshi. He didn't know what to say. It didn't matter to him whether they were seen or not, but he knew it mattered to Hiyoshi and he couldn't help feeling bad about it. Carefully, he reached out a hand and wrapped it around Hiyoshi's, trying to reassure him even a little.

Hiyoshi held his hand back and squeezed it, then turned back to him and rested his head on Akaya’s shoulder, breathing slowly, trying to calm his crazily beating heart. “This is me… not freaking out.”

He couldn't say it would be alright, but he couldn't just stand there silently either. After a long moment Akaya just murmured, "I love you," and gave his lover's hand another gentle squeeze.

Hiyoshi took another deep breath then smiled a little. The smile was sad but honest, then it turned daring cause hell, things couldn’t get much worse. He wrapped his arms around Akaya’s neck, tangling his hands in his hair and pulled him closer. “Prove it.”


	60. Chapter 60

They’d been caught in the Dojo. There hadn’t been any backlash or complaints about it so far, but Hiyoshi knew it was only a matter of time. After they’d been interrupted, Akaya had indeed proven his love in a very Akaya like fashion by adequately screwing him senseless against the mats, and on the bench, and against the wall. They might have switched positions in there a few times as well, but it was all a bit jumbled in his memory now.

Whatever the case, mind blowing sex was good, and after the few days since of being alone and wanting Akaya, Hiyoshi decided there was no longer any point in waiting. Consequently, Hiyoshi was now on his way to Sanada’s room with their puppy to pick up his boyfriend and take him home. He arrived in front of Sanada’s door and knocked, feeling a little anxious and with an energetic Wilson at his side.

Akaya had never been good at comforting people, especially not people who were twice his weight and who could kill him in one smooth motion. Ever since Sanada had gotten back to his room, Akaya had cowered in the corner avoiding him. The older man looked like hell and like he was ready to break down at anytime, but he had no idea why. He'd never seen Sanada look so weak. It was obvious the other man wanted him gone so he could suffer alone, but Akaya had no where else to go and no idea what was wrong, so he did his best to just not get in the demon's way.

The knock on the door was a blessing and in an instant he had thrown open the door. At that point he would have been happy to see anyone, even that hissing bastard whatever-the-hell-his-name-was. When he saw Hiyoshi, he was instantly in the boy’s arms and he whispered hurriedly, "Get me out of here!"

In the room, Sanada barely noticed the door opening, far too lost in his thoughts. After a long moment though he turned his head and ran his eyes over Hiyoshi and Akaya, thinking they made a cute couple and envying how open and emotional Akaya could be. He loved his kohai, but right now all he wanted was to be alone, and that was hard to do with a crazy seaweed headed boy in his room.

That hadn’t been what Hiyoshi expected. The door opened and suddenly his arms were full of brat. Not that he minded. The unexpected clinging though made him drop Wilson’s leash in surprise and the energetic fluff ball ran straight into the room. “Uh… okay,” he responded to his boyfriend’s demand.

Looking in past Akaya’s shoulder, he saw Wilson was now sitting in front of Sanada on the bed, licking his knees. Hiyoshi was not one to talk, but at the moment Sanada looked rather… glum. “I’ve come to take him back.” He said clearly to the older man… maybe his timing hadn’t been the best.

Sanada blinked when he saw the large fluffy dog in front of him. He hadn't expected it since he wasn't used to the dog paying much attention to him, but it did make him smile just a little--though it was hard to see. He reached out and pet the dog slowly, lowering his head so the dog could lick his face. Maybe he should get a dog...

Akaya sighed in relief and murmured in Hiyoshi's ear, "Let's go. He's kinda scary right now..." He wrapped his hands around Hiyoshi's and looked at him pleadingly, wanting more than anything to get out of that room. "I'll get my stuff later."

Since Sanada had chosen to completely ignore him in favor of Wilson, Hiyoshi thought it best to just grab his brat and run. “Okay,” he said with a soft smile, “let’s go home.” He took Akaya’s hand and turned to call Wilson, but… “Um… should we leave Wilson here, too?” Whatever the problem was, it was none of his business, but… Sanada seemed to like him there.

Akaya gave Hiyoshi's hand a squeeze and closed the door silently behind him. "Let's leave him here. I don't want fukubuchou to be alone right now."

“Do you know what’s wrong?” No, it wasn’t his business, but he admitted to himself that he was slightly concerned for his kendo senpai.

Akaya shrugged and pulled Hiyoshi down the hallway. "He hasn't said a word. He just stared at a picture on his desk for a long time then sat down on the bed. It was really creepy. I tried to ask but he ignored me." At least he was used to that.

“Ah.” There was nothing else for him to say so Hiyoshi dropped it and hoped his senpai well.

Out in the warm rays of the sun, Hiyoshi observed his boyfriend. Dressed in his version of casual, Akaya was wearing a pair of jeans, white undershirt, and some kind of long scoop necked shirt over it, and… were those dog tags he was wearing? He chuckled lightly, his boyfriend was always dressed to impress. His hair was as crazy and disheveled as ever and that impish face was only marred by the small worry lines under his eyes that were probably inspired by his favorite senpai’s unhappiness.

Had it really been so long since they’d just walked together like this out in the open? So long that just standing beside him gave Hiyoshi the impulse to do things he usually never would in a public setting? Did it matter? He had already given up on the idea of hiding. An odd feeling of freedom swept over him.

For the first time he could remember, Hiyoshi followed his impulse. He pulled Akaya in front of him and smiled with satisfaction. “Don’t worry. He’ll be okay, and so will we.” He pulled him into a light kiss right there in the middle of campus. All social expectations be damned, he just wanted to enjoy this moment.

Akaya was practically ecstatic to be holding Hiyoshi's hand as they walked outside. It had been so long since he'd been able to do that, and that was enough for him, but before he had a chance to process what was happening, there were lips pressed to his. His eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and he gaped at his boyfriend. He didn't know what to think or what to do, so he just stood there in shock for a minute. "W-wakashi...?"

Akaya’s bewildered look was so cute. Hiyoshi chuckled and leaned in again for one more quick kiss. Though his actions were much bolder then he would typically display, there was still a nice red hue covering his cheeks when he pulled back. “Last time we were together, you mentioned shopping. Would you like to go?”

"I---in a minute..." Akaya mumbled and, finally having gotten over his initial shock, leaned in to press his lips firmly against Hiyoshi, his arms wrapping around the other boy’s shoulders. He could feel people's eyes on them and he didn't give a shit. It was wonderful.

There was a cat call from somewhere, but Hiyoshi just held the boy he loved tighter around the waist and pulled him in closer, diving into his mouth with abandon and smiling all the while. If they had been in a cheesy black and white film, he would have dipped him. Oh, okay, he dipped him anyway then came back up laughing. The blush was now spreading all the way down neck but the force of his smile didn’t dim.

Akaya clung tighter to Hiyoshi when he was dipped but when they righted themselves he laughed with him and hugged his lover close. "You're all red, Wakashi."

“Shut up,” he snapped in his ear. Even with his sharp tone there was no way anyone could have taken him seriously with that grin on his face and the tomato like color of his skin. After a moment though, he really thought he might die of embarrassment. He pulled away, still keeping Akaya’s hand in his. An idea struck him. “Figuring my nearly unlimited funds will soon be cut off; I might as well spend it on something my parents would certainly disapprove of. What do you think?”

Akaya stared at his now apparently delinquent boyfriend and smirked from ear to ear. "I can think of a few things they would definitely not approve of that we could get a lot of use out of..." he said mischievously and started dragging his boyfriend by the hand toward their local sex shop.

What had he gotten himself into? Oh well, at the moment Hiyoshi didn’t really care. “Should I be scared, bright eyes?” he asked, purposely using the nickname he rarely used except for when he was in a considerably good mood. It was the for sure way to make Akaya almost as red as he was.

"Yup!" Akaya chimed, his cheeks turning a light red at the nickname he hadn't heard in months. He grinned excitedly and didn’t stop dragging him until they arrived in front of their destination. He smirked and opened the door wide to the sex shop for his boyfriend.

Hiyoshi amusedly let himself be pulled along all the way to the store. It didn’t seem so bad from the outside… he ventured. Akaya opened the door for him and he started to take his first step in when… He took back all previous thoughts about this. THIS was the last thing he ever wanted to do. Why the hell had he suggested it? Oh gods, he was going to die.


	61. Chapter 61

Hiyoshi woke up with a start, again. It was the fourth time this week. Almost every morning he’d been waking up abruptly, wide awake and sweating. It had to be nightmares. Part of him was glad he couldn’t remember them, but another part wanted to so he could somehow face and defeat them.

Sitting up with eyes closed, he brushed sweat soaked bangs from his forehead then gazed over at Akaya who was lying peacefully next to him on the bed asleep. That relaxed him some. Hopefully he hadn’t woken him up. His boyfriend was usually a very light sleeper but somehow he’d managed not to disturb him the last few mornings, or at least he thought. Akaya was the one who had the bad reoccurring nightmares, not him. He didn’t want his curly haired brat to worry about it. Besides, hopefully it would all be ending soon. Today was the day after all. The day he had chosen to confront his family and tell them of his decision to leave them for a selfish pain in the ass chibi demon.

Contrary to Hiyoshi's beliefs, Akaya woke up after every nightmare Hiyoshi had, but pretended to sleep so the other didn’t worry about waking him up. Then again, that night he hadn't even slept at all. He couldn't. Today was the day Hiyoshi was going to his family’s house, and Akaya was just as worried about how it would go.

When their alarm went off, Akaya sat up and faked waking up, yawning and stretching a little. "Mm... Morning..."

Hiyoshi didn’t move from the bed, just starred at the wall, mentally preparing. Going through all the arguments and rebuking he could think of that his parents could possibly throw at him. He was horribly tempted to just send his family a letter informing them of his decision to remain with Akaya instead of carrying out his duties as successor. Nevertheless, Hiyoshi Wakashi never took the cowards route. He would face his family head on.

When he heard and felt Akaya waking, Hiyoshi turned to face him, trying to hide any uneasiness or anxiety he might feel. He couldn’t let him think that he was at all regretting this decision. “Good morning, bright eyes.” He ran a hand through his hair and watched his waking face. In hind sight, this was probably not the cleverest of ways to hide his true feelings. He was rarely this awake first thing in the morning, nor did he ever use that nickname except for under special circumstances.

"Yeah..." Akaya mumbled in response and sat with his feet off of the bed, just waiting for the motivation to get up and get ready for the day, but it wasn't coming, "You don't have to pretend you're alright, ya know?" Akaya said with a little exhausted sigh. He wanted nothing more than to get the crappiness over with then come home and sleep. "I don't expect you to be..." Slowly, he stood and dragged himself over to his closet to look for something 'mature' and 'professional' to wear like his mother had suggested. He also needed to do something with his hair... Maybe he'd put some gel in it or something, not that it would do any good.

The thing was, Hiyoshi realized, the façade he was putting on was just as much for himself as it was for Akaya. He’d spent most of his life behind a mask. Of the perfect son, perfect successor, even throughout their relationship he’d tried to be the perfect boyfriend. Of course, that hadn’t lasted too long. It was odd thinking after today that masks would no longer be necessary. He didn’t know how else to be. He didn’t move from the bed as he watched Akaya get ready, feeling drained and distant. “Why are you wearing that?” He didn’t see the point in Akaya dressing up for the occasion.

"So I don't look like such a bum." His mother's words, not his. Akaya pulled on the one somewhat nice 'grown-up' outfit he owned; a collared shirt, slacks and even a tie, lacking any of that normal energy he seemed to have all of the time. He seemed older and actually rather mature, that same mentality he tended to have about serious tennis matches.

Finally standing up from the bed, Hiyoshi went to his own closet to dress in one of his nicer button up shirts and a pair of slacks. He knew it wasn’t going to make any kind of difference, but it was thoughtful of Akaya to put in any kind of effort.

It didn’t take him long to change and then Hiyoshi came up behind Akaya to wrap his arms around his waist and pulled him back against his chest. Resting his forehead against a shoulder blade, he breathed in deeply then exhaled slowly. “You don’t have to go… It’s okay. You can just wait for me here.” Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted him to go. The last thing he needed was for Akaya to get angry and make a scene.

"I'm going," The demon-brat said stubbornly, but relaxed in his lover’s arms. "If you want me to, I'll wait outside… I know you probably don't want me there..." he murmured and glanced back over his shoulder at his mushroom. This was going to be one of the worst days of the other's life and he understood how much Hiyoshi hated showing any kind of weakness.

“Do as you like.” It would probably be the only time Akaya would ever have the chance to see his parents. He didn’t even have a picture of his family, nothing. He swallowed hard and squeezed Akaya once before letting go and turning, choking back his emotions. There would be plenty of time to fall apart later. He wasn’t so weak that he’d lose it before he even left his damn room. “The sooner we get this done with, the better. Ready to go?”

"I gotta put gel in my hair still," Akaya said and went into the bathroom to straighten his tie. "It'll only take a sec."

Hiyoshi winced and followed him into the bathroom, taking the gel from him before he had a chance to use it. “Leave it. Please.” He ran a hand through the impossible curls and lowered his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see himself looking so weak in the mirror. “I might… later…” Need it… For some reason combing his hands through Akaya’s hair had always been one of the best ways to help him relax and de-stress. He hated it when Akaya put gook in it. “Its fine the way it is.”

Akaya watched him in the mirror then turned to wrap his arms around him, holding him close and nuzzling his head. "Alright…" he murmured and kissed the side of his head. “I love you..." he added after a long moment of just holding the other man.

Hiyoshi let himself be held, taking in the comfort his boyfriend offered. “I love you, too.” After another long moment, he took another deep breath then let it out slowly. “Let’s get this over with.”

\---

Hiyoshi had imagined the conversation would be hard and painful. Unfortunately, it had been even worse. Much, much, worse. After he’d announced his decision to continue his relationship with Akaya in a formal, calm manner, his father had yelled. Truly, all out red faced rage, yelled. He had never seen his father lose his composure like that. Hiyoshi had taken it all head on, his face losing all trace of color and emotion as the world he’d been raised in was viciously torn apart and away from him.

He was told he was useless, that he wasn’t good enough to be the successor of such a prestigious school and never had been. He had never been what his family wanted. All of his worst fears as a child displayed in front of him. All his hard work, all the years of tirelessly trying to be everything his family wanted. He wanted to kill himself right then and there, and if it hadn’t been that he knew Akaya was waiting for him right outside, he might have.

His brother had been there looking on from the side lines, silent and with sympathy in his eyes. Hiyoshi knew he would have tried to stand up for him if he thought it would do any good, but they both knew it would have only made the situation worse.

The worst cruel moment was when his red faced mother, whom he’d always thought he’d had some measure of good relationship with, stood and approached him. With unforgiving fury in her eyes, she slapped him hard across the cheek. The inner hatred and turmoil at the resounding slap hurt ten times worse than any physical pain. At that point he knew there was no reason to stay any longer.

He didn’t bother with any heartfelt goodbye’s knowing it would only fall on deaf ears. He bowed lowly and thanked them politely, tonelessly. Thanked them for twenty-one years of support and teaching, for allowing him the honor of a good and well-rounded upbringing. Then, without a second glance, turned stiffly towards the door and let himself out. He knew not to expect anyone to call out to him, and they didn’t.

The thoughts going through his head made him stagger as he walked down the cement path, through the garden he had always loved to play in as a kid. He’d always imagined that someday that would be his garden. To his left was the family dojo. His dojo. All of his dreams, everything he had ever accomplished worth remembering had been made there. He had dreamed of growing old there, teaching his children his art. Now he would never step foot in it again. With silent tears running down his face that he didn’t notice were there, he approached Akaya who was waiting for him at the gate.

Akaya had heard most of what had been said. Hiyoshi's dad was even louder than Sanada-fukubuchou. It was kind of scary. Akaya had never even heard his own father yell, his family just didn't yell very often at all... unless they were having sex. The girls tended to be screamers... but he and his dad were pretty laid back most of the time.

When his boyfriend immerged, he was about to ask how it went, until he saw the tears. Frowning, he offered his hand to his boyfriend and waited for him to take it, fully intent on taking him home and just holding him for as long as he would allow.

To Hiyoshi, it felt like something had stopped inside him. Like nothing mattered anymore but going home and being with Akaya, but where was home now? He supposed it was wherever Akaya was. He saw the outstretched hand and felt shaky, as if his legs would give out on him if he walked any further. He turned to look one last time at his childhood home and unexpectedly saw his father standing at the front entrance, watching him. His father stood there like he would always remember him. Tall, proud, and strong, like the person he always wanted to be. But now there was a deep frown etched in his features along with the red of his anger.

Hiyoshi wiped his tears dry and stood a little taller. He turned back towards Akaya and firmly took his still outstretched hand. “Let’s go,” he managed to wretch out.

Akaya laced his fingers with Hiyoshi's and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. He glanced back at Hiyoshi's father for a long moment before nodding and started back toward the dorms.


	62. Chapter 62

For the last few days, Akaya had been very good. He hadn’t asked or mentioned anything about Hiyoshi’s family, nor had he gone out of his way to be more annoying than usual. Since the separation, Hiyoshi had done nothing but be pathetic in his room, not sleep much do to nightmares, and be cuddled by his boyfriend. The comfort was appreciated, but it wasn’t helping, which was why he was now on his way to Sanada’s room.

Looking weary, with dark lines under the now homeless boy’s eyes, he arrived at Sanada-san’s door wearing his usual loose fitting workout gear. When the other didn’t answer his knock, he was tempted to stomp his foot in frustration.

Where did that idiot buchou fucking man go? It had come to his understanding over the last few days that Akaya’s Fukubuchou and his ex-buchou were (or had been) seeing each other for quite some time. This did not sit well in his stomach. He checked the gym.

In the gym, Sanada sneezed as he racked up the bench press bar. He wondered who was talking about him when the door opened to reveal Hiyoshi. He racked his weights as he looked at the boy who looked rather worse for wear. He didn't speak and instead waited for the other man to tell him why he was there. He could tell just by looking at him that it wasn't for working out.

Hiyoshi did not feel the need for any formalities. He approached Sanada with his usual neutral expression and bowed low in front of him. “Please fight me.” It was the only way he knew he would be able to get his aggression out. The last time he’d felt this much anger, it had been during the rough time in his and Akaya’s relationship and it had taken getting the shit kicked out of him to help that tension lessen. Akaya had been pissed at him for that, so this time he was taking a safer route. Unlike the last guy, Sanada wouldn’t try to kill him.

Sanada raised an eyebrow, not sure if he should accept since the other man looked like hell, but he could see that familiar look in Hiyoshi's eyes when he approached. The other needed it, just as he knew when his kouhai was purposely asking for laps to exhaust himself to death. "Alright..." he murmured and walked over to pull on a t-shirt and pick up his bag, "Let's go to the dojo."

Following along behind him, Hiyoshi only nodded silently. There were no words needed as usual between the two of them. He was grateful that Sanada-san hadn’t asked any questions. It would probably be best for both of them if no one else knew about this, so the less the other knew the better.

The older martial artist led them back out into the hallway and to the dojo, sliding the door open. It was past time for practice so the room was empty. Sanada slipped off his shoes and stepped inside. As per usual, he bowed before stepping onto the mats. He wasn't wearing the proper gear for anything, but part of him knew he wasn't going to need it.

Following Sanada’s lead, Hiyoshi took his shoes off at the entrance then stepped fearlessly onto the mats. The ex fukubuchou stood much taller and physically larger in every way to the visual eye, but that hardly mattered. All that mattered right now was for him to get what he wanted. He put his hands together and made the sign of thanks as he bowed low, at the same time letting him know he was ready.

Sanada did the same and then slid his right foot back, his bare feet gripping to the mats. Hiyoshi hadn't specified the type of fight he wanted so he left weapons out of it. It had been a while since he'd had a good hand to hand fight. He raised his arms to guard his face and waited for Hiyoshi to make the first move, his eyes sharp and focused.

Apparently the other wanted him to attack first. That was fine. Another reason Hiyoshi had chosen Sanada-san was that he knew the man to be well trained to take a hit as well as deliver them. In all seriousness, despite Hiyoshi’s training, he knew without his weapons, he would be no match against this man. His face did not betray any emotion; he only nodded once in understanding then charged.

Sanada dodged the best he could, careful to stay out of the range of the other's limbs, but unfortunately he was bigger than Hiyoshi and moved a little slower when he had to step backward so the other managed to land a kick to his side. Unfortunately for Hiyoshi though, Sanada knew how to take the hit and use it to his advantage. On instinct he grabbed Hiyoshi’s leg and used it to throw the man a few feet away so he would have the space he needed.

Hiyoshi knew how to land and was up again before he barely had the chance to hit the ground. His punches were hard and strong, his kicks balanced and powerful, but that only mattered when and if he managed to land them. “Hit me!” He commanded, amidst attacks. He growled low in his throat as he sent a particularly vicious kick to Sanada’s knees where he knew there was weakness to force an attack. There was not point to this unless the other was seriously willing to hurt him.

Sanada saw the kick coming toward his knees and cursed quietly, because he knew they couldn't handle the attack, not after all the hell he put them through. Before he'd had time to think about it, his fist had collided with the side of Hiyoshi's jaw and his foot moved to sweep the smaller boys out from under him.

The hit landed and Hiyoshi knew he was going to be having problems eating for a week, but he managed to catch the leg coming and twist it just so to make Sanada go off balance, then followed up with an under handed punch to his gut that would be double effective if he landed wrong. He knew the kendo practitioner was better than this and it was starting to piss him off that he was obviously holding so much back.

Sanada let himself fall back to avoid the punch and growled a little, he didn't want to hurt Hiyoshi that bad, but he knew that was what the other wanted. Damn it... Atobe was going to kill him for this. He was on his feet again quickly and ducked down to elbow Hiyoshi in the gut firmly, his foot finding its way back behind Hiyoshi’s to make him lose his balance.

The air was knocked out of him and Hiyoshi coughed hard. His balance was gone and he was falling. He managed to catch himself awkwardly and twisted away from the assault but barely gave himself a moment to recuperate before charging back in again. In normal circumstances, he would have backed off to further asses his opponent, but now was not the time for assessment and strategy. It was time to let go and stop thinking all together.

Sanada murmured something under his breath and was about to clothesline Hiyoshi when he thought better of it, instead he just got behind him in an instant and kicked him between the shoulder blades.

Damn it, that one hurt. It took him longer this time to recuperate, but the younger boy was soon on his feet again even though he had no business to be. He fought with all his strength, blocking out the pain and welcoming more. It was a good thing he wasn’t going home tonight because he was pretty sure if Sanada didn’t finish the job, Akaya might.

By the time they were done, Sanada was panting and had a couple bruises that he knew were going to hurt tomorrow. At least he could hide them all with clothing. He stood beside Hiyoshi who was lying on the ground looking as exhausted as he felt. "Feel better?" he asked quietly between breaths.

At the question, Hiyoshi laughed out loud, but it was quickly followed with a cough that shook his whole frame. Damn, that hurt. There were a couple places that would definitely need tending to. He nodded in the affirmative. It wasn’t as bad as when he’d gotten into the fist fight with that punk guy outside the bar, but it certainly still did the trick. He was exhausted, and the tension in his muscles that no amount of feeling sorry for himself would help was gone.

"Don't... rat me out... to Keigo..." Sanada grumbled and flopped down beside Hiyoshi with a sigh. "I think he'd have me killed."

Another chuckle escaped and Hiyoshi grimaced. “Understood.”

"Wanna talk about it?" Sanada stared up at the ceiling, leaving it up to the other man. He wasn't going to press him for information.

“My father. I told him.” About what was obvious. Talking hurt.

"Oh...?" An eyebrow raised, eyes still fixed on the ceiling. He understood the kind of pain the other was going through. He'd done it all years ago.

Hiyoshi remained quiet after that. Whatever else he may say would do no good and though the situation weighed on his mind. He still did not feel ready to talk about it.

Sanada laid there until he caught his breath, then sat up and slowly climbed to his feet. He groaned and pulled up his shirt to look at where bruises were already forming. He snorted quietly and touched at the wounds gently. He was going to ache tomorrow. He offered a hand out to Hiyoshi and waited to help him up.

Taking the offered hand, he let Sanada-san help him up. If he hadn’t, he probably wouldn’t have been able to get up himself for a while. He groaned as he stood and breathed out slowly. Now the question was; what would he do now? He couldn’t go to Choutarou. His friend was still in Italy and, as good as his friend’s intentions would be, he would probably coddle him to death. Not to mention, if Akaya found out he’d gone to Choutarou instead of him, he’d get upset. He couldn’t go to any of his other friends since, really, he didn’t have any he was close enough to. There was only one option left, though he hesitated… really hesitated.

Sanada eyed Hiyoshi for a long moment then walked over to his duffle bag to pull out a key. He padded back over to Hiyoshi and offered it to him. "Here, if you need somewhere to stay." Sanada knew his kohai and he knew he was going to freak out when/if he saw Hiyoshi's injuries. After pressing the key into Hiyoshi's hand he started back toward the door to put his shoes on.

Hiyoshi looked at the key in his hand, surprised by the generosity. “Thank you.” He was also thanking him for more than the key. He would have bowed, but he couldn’t at the moment without potentially hurting himself further. He was still considering going with his other option, but it was nice to have this one as well just in case.

"Anytime," Sanada responded honestly and picked up his duffle bag. Sliding open the door, he spared one last glance at Hiyoshi to make sure he was alright enough to move before walking out to go ice the worst injuries.

The moment Sanada-san left, Hiyoshi walked with a small limp over to where his shoes were and the few things he’d taken out of his pockets before the match, one item of which was his cell phone. He deliberated for a moment longer before using the speed dial to call the one person he thought he may be able to go to for what he knew he needed.

"Hello?" Akaya's mother chirped as she held the phone between her head and her shoulder while she worked on dishing out supper, "Kirihara residence."

Hiyoshi’s voice was already starting to crack with pent up emotion when he heard the caring voice, so different from his own mothers’. “I’m very sorry for troubling you at this time... Momma. I was wondering… if I may request a large favor…”

"Wakashi... Oh sweetie, what's wrong?" Immediately, the woman stopped what she was doing and set the spoon down to walk into the kitchen where she could have some privacy from the curious eyes of her husband. "Tell momma everything."

Why was this so hard? He closed his eyes and felt a few tears run down his cheeks. He hadn’t let tears escape since the day he’d walked away from his family home. “I uh… told my parents… about Akaya and…” he wiped the tears away and forced himself to try and keep himself together. “…they didn’t take it very well.”

Kirihara Yuzuka brought a hand up to her mouth and covered it with a little silent gasp. "Oh... Wakashi..." How could a parent be so cruel to their own child?! "Come over. You're going to stay with me for a few days, alright? You can stay in Akaya's room."

Even after he’d gone home with Akaya, Hiyoshi had been able to contain himself and remain silent. This was the fist time he could feel himself really starting to fall apart and couldn’t stop it. “O-okay…”

"We'll have tea and talk, just you and me," she said gently and took off her apron, worried about her adopted son.

How had she known that was what he’d wanted? He smiled a little through his tears and stubbornly wiped them away again. He wasn’t used to this. “Thank you… I’ll be over soon… umm… bye.”

"Be safe sweetie, I'll see you soon," she said gently and smiled a little as well. "I love you, Wakashi. Don't forget that, alright?"

Fresh tears came to the front. Did she really care that much? He couldn’t remember his own parents ever telling him that, even once. He nodded then remembered she couldn’t see him. “Thank you…” He hoped his voice didn’t crack too badly, but for some reason wasn’t as embarrassed as he should be.

On the other side of the phone line, the motherly smile only widened and she shook her head. "You don't need to thank me, sweet heart. Just get here safely and soon so I can give you a big hug and feed you good food."

“Alright.” The mention of hugs made him remember the pain of his injuries and he hoped she wouldn’t freak out. She was Akaya’s mother, it would probably be okay. “See you soon.”

"Bye," She said gently and hung up the phone, smiling a little because she was going to get to pamper her other son, even if it wasn’t under the best circumstances. She couldn't wait to see the cute little mushroom that she couldn't resist snuggling.

After hanging up, Hiyoshi took a moment to compose himself, then sent a quick text message to his boyfriend so hopefully he wouldn’t go berserk when he didn’t come home. ‘Going away for a day or two. Text if you need anything.’ It was good thing Akaya had taught him how to get a normal taxi just the other day… He hoped he had enough cash left to cover it.


	63. Chapter 63

Staying with Akaya’s family for a few days by himself had been quite the experience for Hiyoshi. The moment he’d arrived, Akaya’s mother must have been waiting for him since she was immediately out the door and escorting him inside, ready to support him in any way she could. It had been rather embarrassing that she had to help pay for the taxi.

She hadn’t been overbearing, just sat there and listened, occasionally squeezing his hand and assuring him he wasn’t weak or in the wrong. He had thought more than once during the encounter that this was what a parent should be like. Akaya was very lucky.

Being in that house, Hiyoshi had never felt so out of his element in his life, but he’d also never felt so welcome and cared for. They were so open and friendly, though perhaps a little too friendly at times -- he still suspected Akaya’s father accidentally groping him was no accident. Yuzuka-san, or Momma as she insisted on him calling her, never let him leave a room without a hug and declaring how happy she was that he was part of their family.

He even slept well during his stay. Akaya’s room smelled like him, and he had no problems falling asleep amongst the mess. Of course, he spent the majority of the next day cleaning it. It had been another way of clearing his mind, and knew his boyfriend’s living habits well enough by then to guess where he probably kept everything and not have to think too much.

By the end of the weekend, he felt renewed, and it was time to go back to the dorms. It was hard leaving the protective shell of Akaya’s family’s house, but there were still two more finals he had to study for and they had to start moving into their new apartment. After an uncomfortably heartfelt goodbye, Hiyoshi was finally on his way back, most of the tension that had been weighing on him significantly lessened.

\---

Back at the college dorms, Akaya waited. It had been forever since his mushroom disappeared to his parent’s house. He’d only known where he was because his mother had messaged him and told him that Hiyoshi was hers for a few days and to not come get him. That kinda pissed him off at first. Wakashi hadn’t told him himself and he didn’t seem to want him there. At that point though, he didn’t know what else he could do for his boyfriend, and that was even more frustrating. It wasn't that big of a surprise he’d gone to his mother, but it was weird.

Even Wilson wasn’t there to keep him company. Packing with a big fur ball around who liked to chew on everything didn’t work, so his Fukubuchou was taking care of him. He didn't mind being on his own for a bit. It meant he got to catch up on the video games he'd neglected for a bit and it gave him a chance to pack without Hiyoshi nagging him that it wasn't organized enough. He was just going to be unpacking it again anyway, so what did it matter if it was just thrown into a box?

Hiyoshi opened the door to the ridiculous scene of his boyfriend’s version of packing. It was nice, as if everything was back to normal… only better. His heart lightened at the sight and he wanted to tease him about how bad it was, but decided not to say anything. Instead, he just stepped over him and the mess toward the bed with a casual “I’m home” and smirk.

Akaya perked up at the voice and looked up at the other man in surprise. "You're back... Welcome home!" he chimed then hopped up to go over and tackle his lover onto the bed. Wakashi was home! That meant everything was going to be okay now, right?

Having kind of expected that, Hiyoshi was glad he’d decided to situate himself near the bed. He knew from personal experience that it was much better than being tackled onto the floor. Chuckling, he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and made himself comfortable. “You’re heavy,” he grinned up at him. “Having fun packing?”

"I am not..." The chibi demon pouted and nuzzled his boyfriend like a giant puppy. "Packing is boring..." he grumbled and flopped out like a human blanket on top of the other man.

Almost all of Hiyoshi’s belongings were already packed up and ready to go, except for a few personal items. Gakuto, who could actually be somewhat helpful every once in a while, had come over the previous week to help with the majority of it. “Come on, get up. I’ll help you.”

Akaya eyed Hiyoshi suspiciously for a bit then nodded. "Alright, but if you help, we pack my way, okay?" There was no way they'd ever finish if they packed the 'proper' way.

“I promise I’ll do my best to be a slob.” Hiyoshi vowed amusedly then smacked his boyfriend’s nicely toned ass. “Now get off me.”

Akaya yelped, then reluctantly crawled off his boyfriend and went over to a half packed box. Akaya’s style of packing was not terribly sophisticated and really had no structure whatsoever, but he got things done and he could almost always remember what was in every box for at least a whole day after packing it.

Watching Akaya pack reminded Hiyoshi of the first time he had come storming into his room and ended up helping him pack for his trip home. He remembered how he hadn’t been able to find anything in his bag that night. He had been amused then, too. Standing, he went over to one of the other half packed boxes. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. He started to neatly place the things around it in the box, doing his best to make sure everything could fit properly without being damaged.

Akaya knew it. Hiyoshi said he would try to be a slob, but it really was impossible for his boyfriend. He had to have everything neat and the chibi demon couldn’t help but find it amusing. Smiling to himself, he taped up another box and started on the next one.

“Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Hiyoshi asked conversationally, though his expression was pinched as he concentrated on making everything fit. There was something on the bottom of the box that made everything too high on the left side. Maybe he should empty it and start it over.

“Not really,” Akaya said honestly and shrugged, things were boring without his boyfriend around. He was sure Sanada was going to kill him because he kept bugging the older man. At least Hiyoshi was back now and could protect him from the big brick wall of fukubuchou.

“Ah.” Hiyoshi dumped the box out to start it over. “Um... By the way, I was asked a few days ago to resign from the fraternity.” The words came out a bit stilted, still miserable about the whole thing, but better than what it would have been a few days ago. He had been so angry and upset; he’d asked (basically forced) Sanada to beat the shit out of him. His stomach still hurt and there was a nice bruise on his chin from that, but Akaya’s mom had to be some kind of make-up pro. She’d forced him to let her cover it up before he’d left the house.

Akaya was almost done with his next box when what Hiyoshi said sunk in. He turned to look at his boyfriend in surprise then got up to walk over and hug him. “Wakashi... I’m sorry...” He was going to kick all those dumb martial artist’s asses! …Or make his Fukubuchou do it…

Hiyoshi tried not to flinch when Akaya bumped his chin, and wrapped his arms around his demon, glad he hadn’t gotten upset. Forgetting about the bigger mess he was making, his forehead plopped down onto Akaya’s shoulder. “The uh… freshman that caught us in the dojo… I had thought… I couldn’t protest it… What we were doing… against fraternity policy…” His couldn’t seem to finish a sentence but was sure Akaya got the picture. “Of course, many members have been caught with their girlfriends during off hours in the club room and nothing was said… I’m sure they are just using it as an excuse.” He sighed and held him closer. “They were at least kind enough to let me formally resign and not kick me out.”

"I'm sorry..." Akaya murmured again and held him close, feeling horrible that it was his fault. He really did need to learn to listen to Hiyoshi occasionally. When he didn't, bad things happened.

“I don’t want to hear your apologies.” Hiyoshi murmured back. It was just as much his own fault for letting it happen. If he was honest with himself, he’d known all along that this would happen eventually. He held Akaya for a moment longer then pushed him away to go back to packing. He gave him a teasing grin. “All I want to think about right now is that we’re getting the hell out of here tomorrow, and nothing, not even your horrendous packing, is going to stop us.”

Akaya's smile returned and he stuck his tongue out. "My packing is amazing and efficient!" he declared confidently, grinning down at his boyfriend.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “And a pain to unpack again.” He looked around at the mess he’d made of the box in front of him. Maybe it would have been better if he hadn’t touched it after all. “Your mom said she’d come over to help unpack over the weekend if we wanted.”

Akaya made a face at the idea. Just because Wakashi had decided to become best pals with his mom, didn’t mean he wanted her coming over and bossing him around all weekend making him work. “Nah… She’d just be a pain and get in the way…” He looked at the mess his boyfriend had made of his amazing packing job and snickered. “Let me do it Wakashi. You’re not done with your stuff either.” He pointed to the corner where there were a few bags and a box left of his boyfriend’s.

Ignoring him, Hiyoshi continued to put Akaya’s box back together in an orderly fashion. Though he did look up to see what of his was left. Oh yeah… that. It hadn’t been done since he didn’t want Gakuto to open it and make fun of him.

Akaya frowned. He didn’t like being ignored. Fine then! He’d go pack the rest of his boyfriend’s stuff and see how he liked it.

Watching him out of the corner of his eye as Akaya moved away, Hiyoshi was suddenly on alert when he saw him going for the bags. “STOP!” he called out before he could remember that was possibly the worst thing he could have done.

Akaya paused and looked back at him. Slowly, a smirk spread across his face. He knew that tone. It meant he definitely needed to see what was in those bags. He picked one of them up and asked teasingly, “Why? What’s in them?”

Hiyoshi gave a warning glare. “None of your business. Put the bag down now.” He sounded like a police cop giving instruction to a criminal.

“It is too my business.”

“No, it's not.”

“Yeah-huh.” Taking his chances, Akaya peered into the bag. All he could see were small boxes. What was interesting about that?

Hiyoshi threw a pillow at him.

Laughing, Akaya threw it back before looking through it nosily. This was the most reaction he’d gotten out of his mushroom in a long time and he wasn’t about to pass it up.

Damn him! Hiyoshi hauled himself to his feet and ran over to where Akaya was, once again, invading his privacy. He tripped and fell over a couple boxes on his way over then grabbed the bag away from him, stuffing the contents back inside.

The curious demon only had enough time to get a small glimpse before it was covered again. He blinked up at his boyfriend in confusion. “Star Wars stuff…?”

 

“They're fragile!” Hiyoshi glared. Maybe he would pack his own box first after all.

Eying his boyfriend oddly, not understanding what was so important about a couple of Star Wars boxes, Akaya asked with wide curious eyes, “What are they?”

“Star Wars models…” The grumpy mushroom-headed boy grumbled out under his breath. It wasn’t like he was keeping them a secret… he just didn’t want Akaya to find them. Holding the items safely to his chest, he leaned down to start putting them carefully in the box. “They were something I always wanted since I was a kid.” They were the one thing he’d bought for himself, besides the sex toys Akaya wanted, right before his father had cancelled his credit cards. “Say one word and I’ll kick your ass.”

“One word.”

An eyebrow twitched. That was it. Hiyoshi stood back up and began his approach, the glare of imminent death in his eyes, ready to kick some ass. No one made fun of his droid and space ship models.

Akaya knew that look. He yelped and ran out the door, practically flying down the stairs and almost running into Sanada on his way out. He only turned to look back once, but it caused him to stumble and go tumbling to the ground, rolling a few times before he shot back up. Not chancing another look back, cursing and eyes terrified, he hauled ass through campus.

Sanada was used to dodging Akaya and raised an eyebrow when the brat went running past him. What he was not entirely prepared for was when he turned back around to see Hiyoshi running toward him as well. He barely stepped out of the way in time and grumbled sourly at his two kohai. However, when he turned back around to go into the dorms, there was a small barely noticeable grin on his face. Finally, things were going back to normal.

Hiyoshi cursed as he ran after his annoying brat then grumbled when Sanada was not helpful in the slightest. He ran past him and continued after Akaya, keeping him in sight and gaining. Akaya’s klutz attack in the grassy area between the two dorms caused him to laugh and he charged for him.

There was a big white fountain situated between the two dorms. Akaya knew he’d be able to catch a break if he could just get to the other side of it and away from his crazy ninja boyfriend. He quickly raced around to the other side.

Kaidoh was walking back to the dorm when he saw the annoying demon boy running toward him. It was too good of a chance to pass up. Sticking his foot out subtly, he sent Akaya face first into the fountain. A satisfied smirk found its way to his lips and he let out a little hiss, revenge was sweet.

Coming around the fountain, Hiyoshi smirked at Kaidoh and nodded quick thanks. Standing at the edge of the fountain, he watched the sputtering brat come out of the water with his arms crossed and a large grin on his face.

Akaya didn't even have time to yelp before he was underwater. Popping out of the fountain, hair plastered to his head and for once perfectly straight and completely un-seaweed-like, he coughed and glared at Kaidoh. It didn't take him long to realize though that he was being watched by someone far scarier than the mamushi. Slowly he turned to look at Hiyoshi, eyes wide.

His job done, Kaidoh shoved his hands in his pockets, gave Hiyoshi a little nod and walked off into the sunset---well actually his dorm, but he pretended it was a sunset.

Feeling very smug at the moment, Hiyoshi smirked and held a hand out to his sopping wet boyfriend to help him out of the fountain. He made sure to plant his feet securely, knowing better than to trust Akaya not to pull him in there with him.

At least it didn’t seem like he was going to kill him. Akaya untrustingly took his hand and tried to stand, but his feet slipped on the wet tile and he fell face first back into the water, his hand still clinging to Hiyoshi’s.

Hiyoshi laughed loudly as Akaya face planted again into the water, though tried to use the hold he had on his hand to not let him drown himself. Getting closer to the edge of white cement, he kneeled down on his knees to help haul him out.

Akaya half flopped onto Hiyoshi, wrapping his arms around him, completely soaking him as well. He scrambled out of the cold water as quickly as possible, looking like a drowned rat.

“Hey! Let go of me!” Hiyoshi was still half laughing as Akaya completely drenched him with the dirty fountain water. “You’re really not very good at this,” he teased and wondered if his little swim in the fountain was enough of a punishment or if he should still kick his ass.

“That was wet… Stupid snake…” Akaya pouted, but couldn’t help laughing a little.

“Yeah, you’re getting me wet, brat!” He pushed him off him and tried to squeeze the water out of his shirt. It was definitely time to go back to the room and get cleaned up. He stood and started walking top speed back to the dorm, trying not to make eye contact with anyone who might have seen that.

Akaya grinned and trotted along beside him before getting an evil idea. Cackling, he took off his wet shit and rung it out before snapping it to hit across Hiyoshi’s ass.

“ACK!” Hiyoshi felt the hit and stumbled a bit forward, then looked behind him with huge round eyes that slowly but surely turned murderous. Slowly, his body turned to face him. “You. Are. DEAD!” And the chase continued.

Oops. “Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!” Akaya took off like a demon out of hell back up the grassy hill that led around the dorm, trying to dodge other students who were walking in the other direction and slowing him down.

Hiyoshi chased after him at top speed. Damn, Akaya was a fast runner, but thankfully some students got in his way, slowing him up some. Just enough to get him in range and he jump tackled him at the top of the hill.

There were resounding calls of “ACK!” and “Oomf” mixed with laughter and groans as the two went rolling down the other side of the grassy hill. Hiyoshi managed to find Akaya’s head and tried to cover it to protect him as they went rolling while Akaya clung to Hiyoshi until they came to stop at the bottom. “Ow…”

A little disoriented, Hiyoshi quickly sat up and felt over Akaya’s head, looking him over to make sure he was okay. “Idiot! You really are going to be the death of me one of these days...”

“You're the one who tackled me!” The still clinging demon retorted pouting, but when he looked up at his mushroom, all pouts and glares were forgotten. His lover was flushed with his hair in disarray, grass and dirt stuck to him. The glare only made him even more sexy and Akaya tightened his hold around him and nuzzled against his neck.

“You're the one who...” Ugh. Hiyoshi trailed off and forced himself to breath calmly. No amount of chastising ever worked with his brat. “Never mind. You're alright, right?” He pushed Akaya away for the second time and brushed himself off.

Akaya laughed quietly and watched him with a smile. “Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?”

“Of course.” He was going to have new bruises the next day but it wasn’t anything the martial artist couldn’t handle. Wanting to avoid another incident, he used the most obvious tactic to get him to behave this time. “I was going to be nice after your cold meeting with the fountain and offer to help with your shower.” He smirked, “Make sure you’re thoroughly cleaned, but you can forget it now.” He turned and started back for the dorms.

At those words, Akaya flailed and scrambled to his feet, not even bothering to brush himself off. “What?! Hey! You should help me!!! Please???” He followed closely behind him, grabbing his shirt on their way.

Hiyoshi chuckled under his breath and kept walking. “No, too late now.”

Akaya pouted. “How come?”

“Because.” Hiyoshi flicked his forehead.

The chibi demon wrinkled his nose and rubbed his head, little flakes of shrubbery coming out. “Hey…”

The door to the dorms was in sight. Hiyoshi supposed the cute sight his brat made deserved a chance. “You might be able to convince me… if you can beat me back to the room.” Without another word, he took off back to the room.

Akaya blinked, and then took off after him. “Hey! Cheater!”

Hiyoshi made it to the front door of the dorm first, swinging it open and running through. Akaya was not too far behind, taking the stairs three to five at a time. They tied somewhere on the stairs and tripped over each other to get down the hall. Akaya using those big long limbs of his to keep Hiyoshi just behind him while Hiyoshi internally debated the fairness of picking him up and tossing him to get his win.

In the end, the mushroom-headed boy cursed his idiot boyfriend for being too fast for his own good while Akaya slammed his hand against their front door first, declaring on a victorious note. “Yes! I win!”

“Oh, shut up.” the loser glared and sagged against the door.

Akaya just grinned in that annoying way and responded in a sing-song voice as he opened the door, “I didn’t say anything~”

“You didn’t have to,” Hiyoshi grumbled and rolled his eyes, not really all that upset, but never liking to lose in anything. He entered the room behind Akaya and grabbed his hips, pulling him back against him. He leaned down to place slow sensual kisses across the back of his neck. “No touching the models brat... understand?”

Akaya snickered while groaning quietly, shivering against him. “Yes, sir…” He relaxed against him comfortably. His dorky mushroom was a sexy dork.

Hiyoshi ran his hands down Akaya’s chest and played the waist band of his pants. He held him closer as he said into is ear, “I believe I owe you a cleaning.”

Akaya smiled and wriggled against him. “Mm… Yes, you do…”

Chuckling, Hiyoshi opened the door to the shared bathroom and pushed Akaya through it. He quickly peeled off his wet shirt and pants, letting them drop to the floor with a plat. He waited a moment for Akaya to strip down as well before taking hold of his hips again, along with his lips, and backed him up into the shower stall. Reaching to the side, he turned on the water, dowsing them both with cold water, causing him to jump a little and chuckle into the kiss.

Moaning as he was pushed back into the shower, Akaya yelped then snuggled closer as his back came in contact with cold tile and he was sprayed with cold water. That didn’t stop him though from wrapping himself around his boyfriend and kissing him back hungrily.

Hiyoshi smiled through the kiss, and once the water started to warm up, he reached for the soap to, as promised, begin washing him quite thoroughly. He began at his neck, and worked his way down his back, around to his chest and stomach. “Sorry I ditched you over the weekend,” he said softly.

Akaya blinked, confused for a moment, then teased quietly. “Were you cheating on me with Darth Vader?”

“Storm Troopers, actually.”

Akaya laughed and kissed him again. It didn’t matter if Wakashi told him where he’d been or not, as long as he always came back to him. He purred happily and just let his amazing boyfriend take care of him.

Hiyoshi kissed him back happily, washing his arms all the way down to his hands. Taking his wrists, he pinned them against the tile above him, half washing, half tickling his under arms. Akaya’s wiggling and laughter caused a happy little flutter in his chest.

The soap soon lowered to much more sensitive areas, indeed washing him thoroughly, which had Akaya shivering at the attention. “Wakashi…” he groaned loudly, spreading his legs for his lover. Lifting one leg, he straddled him, wanting to be picked up.

Hiyoshi did indeed grab his leg and held it up, then tickled his foot.

“Hey!” Akaya flailed, laughing.

Hiyoshi quickly stepped forward and pinned him more securely before he could slip and fall. “Careful. We’ve already established you’re not too graceful.” He kissed a wet pouty nose. “Do I need to wash your hair as well?”

“Now you do.”

Laughing, Hiyoshi let his brat cling to him as he reached for the shampoo. He squirted a small amount into his palm before combing it through his hair, using his fingertips to massage and kneed it into the impossible seaweed curls.

Akaya’s eyes closed, relaxing blissfully. “Mm… That feels good…” he purred quietly and let his head fall against Hiyoshi’s shoulder.

Hiyoshi smiled and continued to massage his scalp. He turned his head to the side for just a moment to kiss him then gently placed it back against his shoulder. Slowly, he then walked him back under the warm water to wash out the shampoo. Once they were both rinsed off, his hands brushed through clean hair, the only time he could actually run his hands completely through it. “You’re all clean,” he whispered. “What should I do with you now?”

Content and happy, Akaya rubbed the water out of his eyes then opened them with a grin. “Love me.”

Hiyoshi snickered. “I can do that.”

\---

EPILOGUE

Their new apartment was no longer new and empty looking. Instead, it was now filled to the back with what looked like hundreds of boxes to Hiyoshi’s tired eyes. He didn’t even want to think about how long it would take to unpack it all. He’d had to work late the previous night at his new job, and then woke up early to start moving everything from the dorms. Thankfully, a lot of their friends had shown up to help. He’d never really thought much about it before this last year or two, but it was nice to have good friends, even if sometimes you wanted to throw shinai at them.

Looking to his side, he saw the only other person still left. The only other person who would be sharing this small space with him, well, and Wilson, but they would go pick him up from the Kirihara house later. “I’ll go get the last box from the curb,” he called out, walking out the front door and started down the cement stairs.

They were finally there, in their new home. Almost every box was in and they were alone. This was his chance.

While Hiyoshi was busy downstairs, Akaya ran over and set up the little boom box which he'd prepared beforehand. He put in a CD he borrowed from his Fukubuchou to waltz by and cleared a large circle in the middle of the boxes, piling them all up around the corner of the room quickly. Then, as he heard Hiyoshi coming up the stairs, he pulled the ring out of his pocket and took one knee, heart thudding loudly in his chest. This was it.

Of course the last box had to be one of the biggest and heaviest. Hiyoshi backed up into the apartment backwards, then turned around, hoping he wouldn’t hit or trip over anything since he couldn’t see. “Hey, brat, come help me with this, or just tell me where I can put it down.” He noticed the music playing in the background and raised an eyebrow. Akaya hated this kind of music.

Akaya laughed a little. "There's a space to your right, just set it down there." At least now he wasn't as nervous. The quiet soothing music helped too and he stayed right where he was, waiting for Hiyoshi to turn around.

Doing as his boyfriend suggested, Hiyoshi moved a little to the right and placed the box down as carefully as possible. Brushing his hands off, he turned back to ask why the music was on when… he froze in place. Akaya was… he couldn’t be. Eyes widened and everything stopped.

"Wakashi... I-I got a job... with my sign on bonus I was able to afford this... and... I know it's not much... but I figured you'd get mad at me if I spent too much money on it--" Akaya rambled a little grinning. "Anyway, what I want to say is... Wakashi, will you marry me?"

“Idiot…” It was his automatic response. There were no thoughts. Hiyoshi’s brain had been wiped clean. All he could focus on was Akaya on bended knee offering him a ring. Slowly, his legs brought him forward, his lips beginning to twitch up into a magnificent smile. “Such an idiot…”

"I'll take that as a yes," Akaya grinned, loving that smile on his mushroom’s lips.

Hiyoshi’s smile somehow widened even further. “Shut up, brat. Don’t I get to answer for myself?”

"I guess," He stuck his tongue out at him teasingly.

“Yes.”

THE END

\---

Author’s Note: Is that really the end? Wow… Two years ago I started this, having no idea it would go on for so long, let alone people would actually read it. lol I’m sure I could even take it farther if I wanted, but… all things must come to an end. Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed my story! It’s more appreciated than you know. I enjoyed writing it and hope you’ll check out my other work. Once again, THANK YOU!!!


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